While the varying species of tengu, kappa, and a handful of others called Youkai Mountain home, they all inhabited the outside of the vast mountain. Only a handful knew of the large caverns that existed on the inside of the mountain, and even fewer knew of the entrances to these caverns. Only the truly ancient of youkai might recall the civilisation long gone that had expanded on the spaces created by natural phenomena to make an extensive hive out of the caverns.
Such a forgotten habitat made it perfect for a number of antagonistic youkai to set-up operations in.
The wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise, one Hakurei Reimu, reflected on this as she flew through the caverns, having fended off a number of low-level minions of the current big bad. Yukari Yakumo, self-proclaimed Mistress of Boundaries, had known exactly who it was that had started the latest incident. She described the ringleader of this operation as being a powerful witch who had been around for over three centuries in Gensokyo, one who had once before attempted to destroy the Great Hakurei Border, the barrier that isolated the land of Gensokyo from the outside world. Since her failure, the witch had laid low, staying out of sight for so long even Yukari had eventually forgotten about her, having assumed she had perished long ago.
Yukari was paying dearly for that now. The youkai sometimes derogatorily referred to as the 'gap hag' loved to sleep in, sometimes hibernating for entire seasons. The witch had punched a hole in the Hakurei Border, sparking off the current incident. Ever since, Yukari was devoting her efforts to patching up the border alongside her shikigami, the nine-tailed kitsune Yakumo Ran. Busy as she was, she had left it to Reimu to deal with the incident and pick up allies.
Which she had. Unfortunately, powerful lunatics tended to attract like minds, and the witch had had a number of followers in sequential caverns, perhaps having anticipated Yukari would be sending a crack force. Instead of allowing each follower to slow down the team as a whole, one person broke off in each cavern guarded by one of the witch’s numerous zealots to face down in a battle of danmaku, allowing the rest to proceed on quickly. The numbers had whittled down quickly, siphoning off members Reimu would dearly have liked to have by her side, such as the oni miko-in-training Suika Ibuki, or the self-declared 'ordinary' human witch Marisa Kirisame.
Reimu broke herself out of her thoughts, wiping sweat off her forehead. She seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into the mountain, as the air was beginning to get hotter around her. She hoped it wasn’t long before she reached her destination, and that the witch had no more followers remaining to stall her.
Her heart sank as she turned a corner, braking just beforehand lest she smack a wall, and saw two things at the opposite end of the large chamber she was now entering: a large doorway leading into another cavern, and a single youkai standing at the top of a set of stairs leading up to the doorway. Quickly, she shrugged off her despair. So she would have to defeat the new girl in a danmaku duel before she could continue on to stop the witch. Not a problem, she had dealt with many right-hand servants in the past. With luck, the witch might be easier to defeat than this presumed last follower of hers.
To Reimu’s surprise, as she got closer, though, she realised her earlier assessment was incorrect. Who she had automatically assessed as being female out of sheer habit was in fact a man.
Said man who stood awaiting Reimu was dressed from head to toe. His outfit resembled many of the men in pictures from outside world magazines she had picked up over the years, with an open black jacket, grey shirt, dark pants and shiny black shoes. The ensemble was rounded off with a black piece of cloth that he wore around his neck, long but narrow, the exact name of it which escaped her at the moment. On his physical appearance alone, he could have passed perfectly for being human.
A brief shiver went down her spine. Male youkai and demons very rarely ventured out to become involved in an incident. Those who did tended to be extremely powerful. She only needed to remember the very first major incident she had resolved when she had to take down the gatekeeper to Makai and then the phantasm of a fallen angel. The child Reimu had felt a stark fear when treading through the alien dimension. After having defeated Shingyoku and Sariel, the possibility of death in many subsequent incidents failed to faze her but for the occasional primal instinct to shiver.
Reimu narrowed her eyes as she slowed her journey through the cave, hovering in mid-air, but didn’t descend, on the off-chance the enemy before her was unable to fly (she doubted it). She could feel the man’s presence as a youkai, but only that. Were she Miko, the Buddhist saint of ancient Japan and a secret Taoist, she could have identified even his species from the aura he gave off, but she was not as good as the saint was. All the shrine maiden could do was be wary that somebody involved with an attempt to weaken the Hakurei Border dressed in outsider clothing.
Said youkai looked up at her, before bending his knees and kicking off from the ground, the acceleration of his jump slowing down until he came to a complete stop, finally floating on the same level as she was. Up close she could see his face in more detail. A tanned face held tight lips, a sharp, pointed nose and dark eyes, all framed by shaggy black hair held by a simple hair clip in a ponytail that went down to his shoulder blades. He had a lazy slouch in his position, hands buried in the pockets of his jacket. A tie, that was what the piece of black cloth around his neck was called, wasn’t it?
She took the initiative in the traditional pre-fight parlay. “Good evening. I don’t suppose you’re the secretary of the witch that lies over yonder? You’ll need to cancel all her appointments for the night, her and I need to have a face-to-face.†His lips twitched at that. Ah, she got him with her banter.
He shook his head, then replied, his voice a mildly deep pitch, “Ah, I’m afraid the mistress is busy right now, gathering her energy, casting her spells.†Playing off her own words, he continued, his speech coloured by a touch of an accent she had never heard from any of Gensokyo’s residents before, “As her secretary, perhaps I can take your message, oh fair maiden of the Hakurei shrine?â€
“Heh,†Reimu said, taking out a charm from the sleeve of her outfit. “Don’t push your luck. Other men, human and youkai alike, have tried and failed to court me. Besides,†She waggled a finger, “I don’t even know who you are.â€
He told her his name as he adjusted his black tie, before putting his hands back in his pockets.
She frowned. She marked his name aside for the Child of Mare to record in her inevitable journal on this latest incident, but she didn’t recognise it. She pressed for more information. “But what are you, then? I can tell you’re a youkai, though physically you do a very good job of appearing human, but what kind?â€
His eyes widened marginally, though out of genuine or mock surprise Reimu didn’t know. “Ah, you’ll have to excuse me. I’m rather fond of my appearance, this is how I appeared as in public for so many years. I simply prefer not to identify my particular species. Besides,†He pulled his left hand out of his pocket, and Reimu was taken aback as she saw he held what was practically a deck of spell cards in his hand, “Not a single spell card I use makes use of what I am, only of who I am.†Shuffling through the deck, he pulled out a handful of cards, before opening his jacket up and quickly putting the rest in what she saw was an internal pocket. “I do have to admit, danmaku is ingenious. Fighting was always a way of life in Gensokyo, but this minimises damage, and nobody has to worry about killing you and destroying the Hakurei Border.â€
The Shrine Maiden of Paradise hissed. Over the course of their short conversation, Reimu had thought something off. Now she realised it. It was his manner of speech. He spoke like Sanae Kochiya, a person who had lived on the Outside until just recently, and who had struggled during her time in Gensokyo to converse with what were more ‘archaic’ words and phrases. “You’re mocking me, aren’t you? You’ve been to the outside, haven’t you? That’s why you’re dressed like that.â€
He let out a chortle. “Perhaps. I think I’ll only need these spell cards to defeat you.â€
Sensing their conversation winding down, Reimu prepared for battle, her yin-yang orbs coming in front of her to act as a protective barrier. “Hmmph, don’t get overconfident. Besides,†She sneered, the adrenaline coming to her easily as she tensed her body up, ready to dodge a danmaku barrage, “You wanted to take a message for your mistress, right? I’ll give it to you, in bullets.â€
Setting his remaining spell cards in another pocket, the man kicked back and pointed out his finger at her. Quickly, triangular bullets of a wide spectrum of colours appeared in the air, above him, and quickly shot out at Reimu.
Kicking off higher into the air, her sleeves flapping with the sudden acceleration, Reimu equipped her Homing Amulet, setting it to auto fire. This was what she lived for. There was almost no thought to her actions, as she felt herself fall into what she might have called a state of zen. The thrill of dodging, weaving, twisting around the myriad bullets was a rush that always lifted her to great heights.
Vaguely, she noted her opponent was doing the same, moving around quickly and avoiding the homing shots of her current weapon. She frowned at that, not liking it when an enemy was able to do that, but she brushed it aside in favour of focusing on the bullet armature the youkai was sending, which had since rounded out into smaller orb-shaped shots that zig-zagged quickly across the cavern.
A few minutes later, Reimu scowled. She had changed over to the Youkai Buster, hoping to get a hit from the spreadshot of the weapon, but she had yet to score a hit. Meanwhile, she was feeling pressed as the bullets coming at her were getting faster and more numerous. She hated to use up her limited energy supply for Spell Cards before taking on the witch, but she really needed to get fast this man fast.
Now, which card...ah, perfect. Perhaps she would use the sequence she had defeated Suika with the first time, oh so long ago, during the Feast Gathering incident.
“First Sign [Continuous Fantasy Orb!]!†She declared, holding her Spell Card high up in the air. The air around her gusted, lifting up the hem of her skirt as the inherent magic carved into her Spell Card activated, and numerous orbs of blue, green, yellow and red colour emitted from the card in all directions.
At the same time, the declaration of a Spell Card attack initiated a Spell Card Duel using the rules she had set up less than a decade ago, ostensibly to reduce the number of deaths, but which had now taken over as Gensokyo’s primary sport. It was a subtle piece of magic that had been created, and she had had help with it from several others in crafting the system which she now administrated. The tight sensation that settled on her told her the duel was now officially started.
Her mysterious opposite was quick to dodge, duck, and weave his way through the bullets. He took a hit here and there, but far fewer than the usual lieutenant of an incident’s mastermind took. Growling as her spell card finally timed out, Reimu dodged the remaining sparse bullets he had fired before he brought out his own spell card.
“Spell Card [Magatama]!â€
Instantly Reimu backed away as a circle of curved bullets swirled around him. Much like the well-known jewels his spell card was named after, the bullets were a uniform forest green. She had little time to appreciate the aesthetics of his own danmaku before the circle of magatama suddenly shot out at her at rapid speed, and she found herself dodging jade beads by the dozen, eventually kicking herself up several feet higher to avoid the highest concentration of the magatama.
She hissed as she felt a couple impact her on her legs, the sting of the danmaku quickly receding but causing its damage nonetheless. Focusing, she derived the flight path of the magatama currently coming towards her using the patterns that had so far been shown, and from there it was a breeze to avoid the remaining magatama bullets until his own Spell Card timed out, the magic all drained away.
Grinning as she got into the heat of things, Reimu brought out her next Spell Card, squished in between her left middle and index finger. “You’re good,†She stated before turning it into a backhanded compliment, “For an Outsider.â€
To her disappointment, he took it all in stridge. “Why thank you,†He responded, before going on, “Fortunately, the witch gave me details of this game of danmaku before damaging the barrier, so I’ve had a few months to practice.â€
“Practice won’t help you when I’m through with you,†Reimu said as she declared her next spell card, “Second Sign [Yin-Yang Scattering]!†In between several bursts of talisman-shaped bullets that spanned a hundred and twenty degree flank in front of her, attacking both above and below as well as in front, her second Spell Card would occasionally spit out large bullets shaped in the form of her own yin-yang orbs.
Additionally, the speed boost it granted her was always a nice bonus.
It was with a sadist glee she noted the dressed youkai took several hits from the faux yin-yang orbs, but slowly he learned how to avoid them and even return fire in the meantime, interrupting the brief break she had made for herself.
Far too quickly, the spell had timed out, and this time it was his turn. “Spell Card [Prometheus’ Fire]!â€
The cry of an eagle was the first thing she noted about the technique, before she quickly found herself avoiding the phantasm of an eagle coming her way. She moved down and to the side, quickly cursing as it became clear that the spectre had homing capabilities. Reimu let out another hiss as one of the fire balls that landed on her left a burning sensation. It was never a pleasant sensation to get hit by a bullet when fighting a higher-tier opponent: while the Spell Card rules meant danmaku wouldn’t maim or kill, they still hurt.
It was with relief that she finally saw the eagle fading away, and the telltale time-out of her foe’s magic. Clenching her neck, she announced her next Spell Card, “Third Sign [Exorcising Barrier]!†Immediately, a wall of blue-white light emitted out from her person, significantly slowing down danmaku bullets that pierced through the shield. Reimu felt satisfied too as she saw the youkai of unidentified subspecies get struck full-on by the barrier, his daze enough for a few of her regular bullets to strike him as well.
The Hakurei shrine maiden found herself less happy as he managed to mostly avoid the second barrier her Spell Card cast off, and then continued to graze the moving barriers from then on, all the while returning fire for fire as danmaku bullets overlaid danmaku bullets, and once more she found herself moving as she spun around, twirling through the air, with her up becoming her down and her down becoming her up before she could safely go back upright, having dodged another salvo.
It had been a while since an instigator’s associate was able to pressure her so. With a tic developing on her face, she expectantly waited as the youkai shouted his next move. “Spell Card [Socrates’ Poison]!†She heard in that loud, baritone voice of his.
A purple-and-green cloud sprouted from his Spell Card, and she nearly gagged at the scent as it approached, breaking up into smaller and smaller sizes as each small piece increased in speed. With nimble manoeuvring born from a decade of danmaku, she wove through every one of the clouds, not daring to take a hit this time as a cost for her carelessness. So it was for the next large cloud to emerge from her enemy’s card. With the danmaku’s pattern firmly ensconced in her mind, she quickly approached him after the next batch of clouds fizzled out to send off another barrage of regular bullets, before retreating as a new cumulus cloud of poison formed.
When his third Spell Card fizzled out, she initiated a conversation again. “So,†She idly said, only half-attempting to be subtle, “Why are you following that witch, anyways?â€
He seemed to have no problem taking a brief break from their war of wills. “She foresaw this, you know, that the incident-solvers would come and attempt to stop her,†He shrugged. “I don’t agree with her goal of destroying the barrier, but weakening it was sufficient for me.â€
“Why. Are you following her?†Reimu asked again, this time in such a saccharine tone her opposite knew failing would only annoy her.
“I used to live in Gensokyo, once upon a time, centuries ago,†He answered, “And I had the desire to live here once more. Unfortunately, one does not simply fall into Gensokyo, not unless one has a guide these days, so when one of her communications made it past the Hakurei Barrier offering access into Gensokyo, I took her up on it.†Again, he shrugged, “Unfortunately for you I guess, I got one of the worst youkai who could have allowed me access back into Gensokyo.â€
“That’s enough backstory from you, now,†Reimu deadpanned, satisfied that he wasn’t evangelical to the cause of the witch. The battle was resumed as she brought out her next spell, “Power Sign [Yin-Yang King]!†This time, she had to provide some control to her own Spell Card, lest it backfire, as it charged up a large orb of energy before spitting it out. The male youkai dodged it, then warily eyed it as it flew past him, moving up and down as his fear was confirmed that it had homing capabilities. The big sphere faded away as it ran out of energy, but that was alright as the Spell Card shot out another one.
It didn’t last for very long, though, as the charged magic in the Spell Card finally ran out, and this time it was her opponent’s turn. Retreating as he declared his next attack, the Hakurei miko wondered what it would be this time. “Spell Card [Rod of Asclepius]!â€
Instead of spitting out numerous bullets at a rate just below her eye’s capability to track, this time the Spell Card activated a giant danmaku laser shaped as a staff. Reimu wrinkled her nose as she noted the ornamental design of a snake curled up around the length of the rod (she hated snakes), then jerked off to the side as the snake’s head spit out a surprise amount of bullets. She found herself continuing to move as the rod began to swing in a full circle around the male youkai, quickly extending and retracting in length as the snake spat out more bullets in the meantime.
After fighting Byakuren and her massive amount of laser danmaku, she had little desire to get scathed by being in the way of that rod.
Reimu sent off a few bullets while the rod was moving away from her at the instigator youkai, then quirked an eyebrow as the snake’s head detached from the rod and ate her bullets. Well...that was a more unusual defense than she had seen before. No matter, it took another minute before the Spell Card finally lost its energy, but that was time well spent assimilating the idea of a snake eating bullets and stealing it for whenever she crafted a new Spell Card in the future.
Now it was time to bring out the heavy guns...â€Dream Battle [Illusionary Moon]!†She said forcefully, activating one of her more powerful Spell Cards. It ignited with the energy she had poured into it, creating a shield of talisman cards around her figure before the plethora of cards homed in on her enemy. Meanwhile, a permanent shield of yin-yang orbs coloured like the full moon continued orbiting as a protection against any enemy bullets.
The talismans quickly overwhelmed the youkai, and he hissed out loud as he took several hits, audible to Reimu even fifteen meters away. With a smirk, she recalled that given his status as youkai, the holy energy infused within those talismans really would sting.
Fortunately, it was enough to pressure him to take out his next Spell Card well before her own had timed out. Unfortunately, whatever it was would probably prove sufficient to negate her Illusionary Moon attack. “Spell Card [Gates of Troy]!†The man declared, and out came a large wall of energy which instantly shredded all the talismans that impacted. With a curse that Reimu wouldn’t be repenting for, she quickly stopped sending out talismans and instead reformed the shield circling around her. It was just in time, as the danmaku gate opened up, sending out a stream of arrow-shaped bullets that impacted her talisman shield, before finally dropping, spent of energy after hitting her yin-yang orb shield.
A few minutes later, both combatants’ Spell Cards expired, Reimu found herself speaking once more. “You’re rather impressive,†She stated. “Most people would already have been down for the count.†She smirked, and found herself flirting, “I’ll have to defeat you now before you get any better,†And then she recoiled as she recalled this was no human male she was making the moves on, but a youkai.
He made to speak, but Reimu decided to be a little selfish, interrupting whatever he was about to say by activating her next attack, “Unnamed [Mysterious Flying Shrine Maiden]!†Hovering in a pose with her arms stretched out not unlike the Youkai of Darkness, the six moon-coloured yin-yang orbs from before returned, this time not quite as close to her body. As they orbited around her body, they spat out a constant fire of talismans. In the meantime, she summoned an inner shield of talismans continuously, sending them off on homing fire at her youkai opponent, before replenishing the shield.
In short, it was one of her most powerful cards, one that helped to demonstrate just why the Maiden of Paradise was inarguably one of the greatest danmaku duelists in Gensokyo, and perhaps even the single greatest fighter there was with Spell Cards.
Which was why she frowned as even that wasn’t sufficient to take her opponent out of the running. He took occasional hits, just like he did with her prior Spell Cards, but she could never quite nail him with a direct strike to his ‘hit box’ at the center of his chest, or even a succession of several strikes against his limbs. Instead, he grazed the large majority of the talisman to come by him. Even dodging something by a hair’s width was still dodging an attack.
Her eyes widened as she realised how quickly her Spell Card was running out of energy. There wasn’t really an issue with that per se as she had many, many more Spell Cards up her sleeve, but she would have to put magical energy back into her Spell Cards again later to make them fit for danmaku once more, and secondly...
“Impressive,†Reimu remarked as her Unnamed card finally timed out, “That combination was enough once upon a time to take down an oni.†Even if that oni had been drunk off her loli rear end at the time.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,†Her youkai enemy said, before bringing out another Spell Card. “My turn.†Holding it up in the air, he declared it.
“World Card [World of Ice]â€
Sharp pinpricks of sensation needled at her skin as a frigid chill suddenly enveloped the cavern. The shock of the instant drop in temperature shocked her for a couple of seconds, before she shook her head and quickly moved, dodging a hail of icicle-shaped bullets. Having had enough practice with that one ice fairy, she was able to quickly push the cold to the back of her mind. Her body would acclimatise on its own as she continued to burn energy from the strenuous battle.
But that was unimportant compared to the environment of the cavern changing, as it began to snow indoors, even as the icicle-shaped bullets came perilously close to her. A Spell Card capable of altering the environment, even temporarily, was in the upper echelon of techniques. Reimu hoped that this was his final, most powerful Spell Card, considering how much energy it should take to summon it.
She forced down a shiver, lest it knock her concentration off during vital seconds. Was it her, or was it getting colder?
This ‘World Card’ was effective, Reimu realised as she failed to completely dodge a string of bullets sent her way, taking a couple of hits to her legs, before returning fire. It didn’t create any danmaku patterns on its own, though his regular bullets had turned into icicles with pointed ends, interspersed by larger blue-white diamonds, but by dropping the temperature in the environment and creating snow, she found it a lot harder to respond and dodge attacks. She cursed as she felt another icicle bullet hit her arm, and quickly moved away, attempting to reorient herself.
It was no good. Her outfit wasn’t precisely modest, but it still offered little protection against the elements, and she found herself shivering more and more, as her grip around her gohei rod weakened, her fingers turning numb. Even worse was the wind currents picking up as it began to howl, the architecture of the cavern designed to echo any noises severalfold, as it began to paralyse her face.
If his World Card didn’t time out quickly, she would need to activate her own next Spell Card pre-emptively, to give her body some heat again. That was, if her fingers could still grab her next Spell Card.
No. It really was no good. She saw the next set of bullet spam headed her way. Reimu’s mind screamed at Reimu’s body to move, but it was too slow to react. Several of them slammed right into her hit box, knocking her out.
-=-=-=-=
Unconsciousness only lasted a couple of seconds. It almost always did in a Spell Card duel, just long enough to make sure the defeated knew they were defeated. While danmaku bullets stung, the main thing they did when striking an opponent was to eat away at the ‘willpower’ of the victim. When somebody finally lost the will to duel, they lost.
It wasn’t something that occurred very often to Reimu, and so she was still about to fire off another round of bullets when she woke up again, before she froze. Her body felt looser than it had over the last twenty-odd minutes, and the snow had stopped falling, the stalactites stopped dropping from the ceiling, the wind stopped howling. Opposite her, her opponent stayed floating in the air, his face set in a neutral expression, his arms crossed. His own hands, which he had used to shape his danmaku bullets, were no longer pointed out at her.
“I...lost?â€
“Yes, you did,†Was his only response.
The very thought was unthinkable. Impossible. Even Yakumo Yukari, with her more metaphysical abilities to manipulate the boundaries of concepts, had been unable to secure a danmaku victory against her for years, when she should normally have been able to manipulate the boundary between victory and defeat. Hundreds had challenged her, hundreds had lost.
How had one man, not even the primary instigator of the latest incident, managed to win against her?
No. She would not accept this. It was a black mark against her pride, but Hakurei Reimu had always come out in the end.
“I challenge you to a rematch,†She asserted.
“No.â€
Startled, she jerked back. “What?!â€
“I said, no,†And with a start, Reimu realised the youkai before her was doing the buttons on his jacket up, and putting on the tie that he had taken off in the heat of battle. Before she could butt in again, he continued, “She gave me access to Gensokyo, and only required that I fight any intruders who attempted to reach her.†With a knowing glance sent her way, he concluded, “She never said I had to indefinitely delay those who desired to stop her.â€
Reimu grit her teeth. Much as she would like to reclaim her pride, he was right: beating up the witch right away was the more important thing. But still... “Will you be staying in Gensokyo, then?â€
“Hmm...†was all he had to respond with for a few seconds as his hands blurred, bringing his tie around his neck and creating a knot again with several quick sleight-of-hands Reimu could only barely follow. “Yes, I will be. I brought four friends of mine with me, humans with youkai ancestry who all had reason to escape the Outside. Come find me, or I’ll find you. We’ll play again.â€
The miko bared her teeth in a grin, half-predatory, half-relieved. “I’ll come find you no matter what. Nobody defeats me and gets away without a rematch.â€
“I’ll be waiting,†He said, flying off in the direction opposite that he had been guarding. Once he was but a pinprick in the background, Reimu was confident enough to turn around to the doors.
“You’ve given me a lot of trouble, witch,†Reimu said aloud, mostly to herself but also to the witch if she was somehow eavesdropping. “It’s time to teach you a lesson.â€
She did. Then, with the witch and her more zealous followers defeated, they decamped to the shrine along with Reimu’s followers for tea, quickly crashed upon by other youkai and a rare few humans who turned it a massive party, egged on by Suika and her gourd of her unlimited sake. Didn’t it always?
Things took a change for the unusual when Yukari finally came around with Ran for a debriefing on the latest incident, finally having stabilised the Great Hakurei Border.
---
Well, there we go, the first chapter of this thing. It'll probably be the only thing I drop an enormous thing like this down all at once, in the future I'll probably have a big scene like this released in smaller chunks.
Thanks to @[T.L] for some proofreading.
Such a forgotten habitat made it perfect for a number of antagonistic youkai to set-up operations in.
The wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise, one Hakurei Reimu, reflected on this as she flew through the caverns, having fended off a number of low-level minions of the current big bad. Yukari Yakumo, self-proclaimed Mistress of Boundaries, had known exactly who it was that had started the latest incident. She described the ringleader of this operation as being a powerful witch who had been around for over three centuries in Gensokyo, one who had once before attempted to destroy the Great Hakurei Border, the barrier that isolated the land of Gensokyo from the outside world. Since her failure, the witch had laid low, staying out of sight for so long even Yukari had eventually forgotten about her, having assumed she had perished long ago.
Yukari was paying dearly for that now. The youkai sometimes derogatorily referred to as the 'gap hag' loved to sleep in, sometimes hibernating for entire seasons. The witch had punched a hole in the Hakurei Border, sparking off the current incident. Ever since, Yukari was devoting her efforts to patching up the border alongside her shikigami, the nine-tailed kitsune Yakumo Ran. Busy as she was, she had left it to Reimu to deal with the incident and pick up allies.
Which she had. Unfortunately, powerful lunatics tended to attract like minds, and the witch had had a number of followers in sequential caverns, perhaps having anticipated Yukari would be sending a crack force. Instead of allowing each follower to slow down the team as a whole, one person broke off in each cavern guarded by one of the witch’s numerous zealots to face down in a battle of danmaku, allowing the rest to proceed on quickly. The numbers had whittled down quickly, siphoning off members Reimu would dearly have liked to have by her side, such as the oni miko-in-training Suika Ibuki, or the self-declared 'ordinary' human witch Marisa Kirisame.
Reimu broke herself out of her thoughts, wiping sweat off her forehead. She seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into the mountain, as the air was beginning to get hotter around her. She hoped it wasn’t long before she reached her destination, and that the witch had no more followers remaining to stall her.
Her heart sank as she turned a corner, braking just beforehand lest she smack a wall, and saw two things at the opposite end of the large chamber she was now entering: a large doorway leading into another cavern, and a single youkai standing at the top of a set of stairs leading up to the doorway. Quickly, she shrugged off her despair. So she would have to defeat the new girl in a danmaku duel before she could continue on to stop the witch. Not a problem, she had dealt with many right-hand servants in the past. With luck, the witch might be easier to defeat than this presumed last follower of hers.
To Reimu’s surprise, as she got closer, though, she realised her earlier assessment was incorrect. Who she had automatically assessed as being female out of sheer habit was in fact a man.
Said man who stood awaiting Reimu was dressed from head to toe. His outfit resembled many of the men in pictures from outside world magazines she had picked up over the years, with an open black jacket, grey shirt, dark pants and shiny black shoes. The ensemble was rounded off with a black piece of cloth that he wore around his neck, long but narrow, the exact name of it which escaped her at the moment. On his physical appearance alone, he could have passed perfectly for being human.
A brief shiver went down her spine. Male youkai and demons very rarely ventured out to become involved in an incident. Those who did tended to be extremely powerful. She only needed to remember the very first major incident she had resolved when she had to take down the gatekeeper to Makai and then the phantasm of a fallen angel. The child Reimu had felt a stark fear when treading through the alien dimension. After having defeated Shingyoku and Sariel, the possibility of death in many subsequent incidents failed to faze her but for the occasional primal instinct to shiver.
Reimu narrowed her eyes as she slowed her journey through the cave, hovering in mid-air, but didn’t descend, on the off-chance the enemy before her was unable to fly (she doubted it). She could feel the man’s presence as a youkai, but only that. Were she Miko, the Buddhist saint of ancient Japan and a secret Taoist, she could have identified even his species from the aura he gave off, but she was not as good as the saint was. All the shrine maiden could do was be wary that somebody involved with an attempt to weaken the Hakurei Border dressed in outsider clothing.
Said youkai looked up at her, before bending his knees and kicking off from the ground, the acceleration of his jump slowing down until he came to a complete stop, finally floating on the same level as she was. Up close she could see his face in more detail. A tanned face held tight lips, a sharp, pointed nose and dark eyes, all framed by shaggy black hair held by a simple hair clip in a ponytail that went down to his shoulder blades. He had a lazy slouch in his position, hands buried in the pockets of his jacket. A tie, that was what the piece of black cloth around his neck was called, wasn’t it?
She took the initiative in the traditional pre-fight parlay. “Good evening. I don’t suppose you’re the secretary of the witch that lies over yonder? You’ll need to cancel all her appointments for the night, her and I need to have a face-to-face.†His lips twitched at that. Ah, she got him with her banter.
He shook his head, then replied, his voice a mildly deep pitch, “Ah, I’m afraid the mistress is busy right now, gathering her energy, casting her spells.†Playing off her own words, he continued, his speech coloured by a touch of an accent she had never heard from any of Gensokyo’s residents before, “As her secretary, perhaps I can take your message, oh fair maiden of the Hakurei shrine?â€
“Heh,†Reimu said, taking out a charm from the sleeve of her outfit. “Don’t push your luck. Other men, human and youkai alike, have tried and failed to court me. Besides,†She waggled a finger, “I don’t even know who you are.â€
He told her his name as he adjusted his black tie, before putting his hands back in his pockets.
She frowned. She marked his name aside for the Child of Mare to record in her inevitable journal on this latest incident, but she didn’t recognise it. She pressed for more information. “But what are you, then? I can tell you’re a youkai, though physically you do a very good job of appearing human, but what kind?â€
His eyes widened marginally, though out of genuine or mock surprise Reimu didn’t know. “Ah, you’ll have to excuse me. I’m rather fond of my appearance, this is how I appeared as in public for so many years. I simply prefer not to identify my particular species. Besides,†He pulled his left hand out of his pocket, and Reimu was taken aback as she saw he held what was practically a deck of spell cards in his hand, “Not a single spell card I use makes use of what I am, only of who I am.†Shuffling through the deck, he pulled out a handful of cards, before opening his jacket up and quickly putting the rest in what she saw was an internal pocket. “I do have to admit, danmaku is ingenious. Fighting was always a way of life in Gensokyo, but this minimises damage, and nobody has to worry about killing you and destroying the Hakurei Border.â€
The Shrine Maiden of Paradise hissed. Over the course of their short conversation, Reimu had thought something off. Now she realised it. It was his manner of speech. He spoke like Sanae Kochiya, a person who had lived on the Outside until just recently, and who had struggled during her time in Gensokyo to converse with what were more ‘archaic’ words and phrases. “You’re mocking me, aren’t you? You’ve been to the outside, haven’t you? That’s why you’re dressed like that.â€
He let out a chortle. “Perhaps. I think I’ll only need these spell cards to defeat you.â€
Sensing their conversation winding down, Reimu prepared for battle, her yin-yang orbs coming in front of her to act as a protective barrier. “Hmmph, don’t get overconfident. Besides,†She sneered, the adrenaline coming to her easily as she tensed her body up, ready to dodge a danmaku barrage, “You wanted to take a message for your mistress, right? I’ll give it to you, in bullets.â€
Setting his remaining spell cards in another pocket, the man kicked back and pointed out his finger at her. Quickly, triangular bullets of a wide spectrum of colours appeared in the air, above him, and quickly shot out at Reimu.
Kicking off higher into the air, her sleeves flapping with the sudden acceleration, Reimu equipped her Homing Amulet, setting it to auto fire. This was what she lived for. There was almost no thought to her actions, as she felt herself fall into what she might have called a state of zen. The thrill of dodging, weaving, twisting around the myriad bullets was a rush that always lifted her to great heights.
Vaguely, she noted her opponent was doing the same, moving around quickly and avoiding the homing shots of her current weapon. She frowned at that, not liking it when an enemy was able to do that, but she brushed it aside in favour of focusing on the bullet armature the youkai was sending, which had since rounded out into smaller orb-shaped shots that zig-zagged quickly across the cavern.
A few minutes later, Reimu scowled. She had changed over to the Youkai Buster, hoping to get a hit from the spreadshot of the weapon, but she had yet to score a hit. Meanwhile, she was feeling pressed as the bullets coming at her were getting faster and more numerous. She hated to use up her limited energy supply for Spell Cards before taking on the witch, but she really needed to get fast this man fast.
Now, which card...ah, perfect. Perhaps she would use the sequence she had defeated Suika with the first time, oh so long ago, during the Feast Gathering incident.
“First Sign [Continuous Fantasy Orb!]!†She declared, holding her Spell Card high up in the air. The air around her gusted, lifting up the hem of her skirt as the inherent magic carved into her Spell Card activated, and numerous orbs of blue, green, yellow and red colour emitted from the card in all directions.
At the same time, the declaration of a Spell Card attack initiated a Spell Card Duel using the rules she had set up less than a decade ago, ostensibly to reduce the number of deaths, but which had now taken over as Gensokyo’s primary sport. It was a subtle piece of magic that had been created, and she had had help with it from several others in crafting the system which she now administrated. The tight sensation that settled on her told her the duel was now officially started.
Her mysterious opposite was quick to dodge, duck, and weave his way through the bullets. He took a hit here and there, but far fewer than the usual lieutenant of an incident’s mastermind took. Growling as her spell card finally timed out, Reimu dodged the remaining sparse bullets he had fired before he brought out his own spell card.
“Spell Card [Magatama]!â€
Instantly Reimu backed away as a circle of curved bullets swirled around him. Much like the well-known jewels his spell card was named after, the bullets were a uniform forest green. She had little time to appreciate the aesthetics of his own danmaku before the circle of magatama suddenly shot out at her at rapid speed, and she found herself dodging jade beads by the dozen, eventually kicking herself up several feet higher to avoid the highest concentration of the magatama.
She hissed as she felt a couple impact her on her legs, the sting of the danmaku quickly receding but causing its damage nonetheless. Focusing, she derived the flight path of the magatama currently coming towards her using the patterns that had so far been shown, and from there it was a breeze to avoid the remaining magatama bullets until his own Spell Card timed out, the magic all drained away.
Grinning as she got into the heat of things, Reimu brought out her next Spell Card, squished in between her left middle and index finger. “You’re good,†She stated before turning it into a backhanded compliment, “For an Outsider.â€
To her disappointment, he took it all in stridge. “Why thank you,†He responded, before going on, “Fortunately, the witch gave me details of this game of danmaku before damaging the barrier, so I’ve had a few months to practice.â€
“Practice won’t help you when I’m through with you,†Reimu said as she declared her next spell card, “Second Sign [Yin-Yang Scattering]!†In between several bursts of talisman-shaped bullets that spanned a hundred and twenty degree flank in front of her, attacking both above and below as well as in front, her second Spell Card would occasionally spit out large bullets shaped in the form of her own yin-yang orbs.
Additionally, the speed boost it granted her was always a nice bonus.
It was with a sadist glee she noted the dressed youkai took several hits from the faux yin-yang orbs, but slowly he learned how to avoid them and even return fire in the meantime, interrupting the brief break she had made for herself.
Far too quickly, the spell had timed out, and this time it was his turn. “Spell Card [Prometheus’ Fire]!â€
The cry of an eagle was the first thing she noted about the technique, before she quickly found herself avoiding the phantasm of an eagle coming her way. She moved down and to the side, quickly cursing as it became clear that the spectre had homing capabilities. Reimu let out another hiss as one of the fire balls that landed on her left a burning sensation. It was never a pleasant sensation to get hit by a bullet when fighting a higher-tier opponent: while the Spell Card rules meant danmaku wouldn’t maim or kill, they still hurt.
It was with relief that she finally saw the eagle fading away, and the telltale time-out of her foe’s magic. Clenching her neck, she announced her next Spell Card, “Third Sign [Exorcising Barrier]!†Immediately, a wall of blue-white light emitted out from her person, significantly slowing down danmaku bullets that pierced through the shield. Reimu felt satisfied too as she saw the youkai of unidentified subspecies get struck full-on by the barrier, his daze enough for a few of her regular bullets to strike him as well.
The Hakurei shrine maiden found herself less happy as he managed to mostly avoid the second barrier her Spell Card cast off, and then continued to graze the moving barriers from then on, all the while returning fire for fire as danmaku bullets overlaid danmaku bullets, and once more she found herself moving as she spun around, twirling through the air, with her up becoming her down and her down becoming her up before she could safely go back upright, having dodged another salvo.
It had been a while since an instigator’s associate was able to pressure her so. With a tic developing on her face, she expectantly waited as the youkai shouted his next move. “Spell Card [Socrates’ Poison]!†She heard in that loud, baritone voice of his.
A purple-and-green cloud sprouted from his Spell Card, and she nearly gagged at the scent as it approached, breaking up into smaller and smaller sizes as each small piece increased in speed. With nimble manoeuvring born from a decade of danmaku, she wove through every one of the clouds, not daring to take a hit this time as a cost for her carelessness. So it was for the next large cloud to emerge from her enemy’s card. With the danmaku’s pattern firmly ensconced in her mind, she quickly approached him after the next batch of clouds fizzled out to send off another barrage of regular bullets, before retreating as a new cumulus cloud of poison formed.
When his third Spell Card fizzled out, she initiated a conversation again. “So,†She idly said, only half-attempting to be subtle, “Why are you following that witch, anyways?â€
He seemed to have no problem taking a brief break from their war of wills. “She foresaw this, you know, that the incident-solvers would come and attempt to stop her,†He shrugged. “I don’t agree with her goal of destroying the barrier, but weakening it was sufficient for me.â€
“Why. Are you following her?†Reimu asked again, this time in such a saccharine tone her opposite knew failing would only annoy her.
“I used to live in Gensokyo, once upon a time, centuries ago,†He answered, “And I had the desire to live here once more. Unfortunately, one does not simply fall into Gensokyo, not unless one has a guide these days, so when one of her communications made it past the Hakurei Barrier offering access into Gensokyo, I took her up on it.†Again, he shrugged, “Unfortunately for you I guess, I got one of the worst youkai who could have allowed me access back into Gensokyo.â€
“That’s enough backstory from you, now,†Reimu deadpanned, satisfied that he wasn’t evangelical to the cause of the witch. The battle was resumed as she brought out her next spell, “Power Sign [Yin-Yang King]!†This time, she had to provide some control to her own Spell Card, lest it backfire, as it charged up a large orb of energy before spitting it out. The male youkai dodged it, then warily eyed it as it flew past him, moving up and down as his fear was confirmed that it had homing capabilities. The big sphere faded away as it ran out of energy, but that was alright as the Spell Card shot out another one.
It didn’t last for very long, though, as the charged magic in the Spell Card finally ran out, and this time it was her opponent’s turn. Retreating as he declared his next attack, the Hakurei miko wondered what it would be this time. “Spell Card [Rod of Asclepius]!â€
Instead of spitting out numerous bullets at a rate just below her eye’s capability to track, this time the Spell Card activated a giant danmaku laser shaped as a staff. Reimu wrinkled her nose as she noted the ornamental design of a snake curled up around the length of the rod (she hated snakes), then jerked off to the side as the snake’s head spit out a surprise amount of bullets. She found herself continuing to move as the rod began to swing in a full circle around the male youkai, quickly extending and retracting in length as the snake spat out more bullets in the meantime.
After fighting Byakuren and her massive amount of laser danmaku, she had little desire to get scathed by being in the way of that rod.
Reimu sent off a few bullets while the rod was moving away from her at the instigator youkai, then quirked an eyebrow as the snake’s head detached from the rod and ate her bullets. Well...that was a more unusual defense than she had seen before. No matter, it took another minute before the Spell Card finally lost its energy, but that was time well spent assimilating the idea of a snake eating bullets and stealing it for whenever she crafted a new Spell Card in the future.
Now it was time to bring out the heavy guns...â€Dream Battle [Illusionary Moon]!†She said forcefully, activating one of her more powerful Spell Cards. It ignited with the energy she had poured into it, creating a shield of talisman cards around her figure before the plethora of cards homed in on her enemy. Meanwhile, a permanent shield of yin-yang orbs coloured like the full moon continued orbiting as a protection against any enemy bullets.
The talismans quickly overwhelmed the youkai, and he hissed out loud as he took several hits, audible to Reimu even fifteen meters away. With a smirk, she recalled that given his status as youkai, the holy energy infused within those talismans really would sting.
Fortunately, it was enough to pressure him to take out his next Spell Card well before her own had timed out. Unfortunately, whatever it was would probably prove sufficient to negate her Illusionary Moon attack. “Spell Card [Gates of Troy]!†The man declared, and out came a large wall of energy which instantly shredded all the talismans that impacted. With a curse that Reimu wouldn’t be repenting for, she quickly stopped sending out talismans and instead reformed the shield circling around her. It was just in time, as the danmaku gate opened up, sending out a stream of arrow-shaped bullets that impacted her talisman shield, before finally dropping, spent of energy after hitting her yin-yang orb shield.
A few minutes later, both combatants’ Spell Cards expired, Reimu found herself speaking once more. “You’re rather impressive,†She stated. “Most people would already have been down for the count.†She smirked, and found herself flirting, “I’ll have to defeat you now before you get any better,†And then she recoiled as she recalled this was no human male she was making the moves on, but a youkai.
He made to speak, but Reimu decided to be a little selfish, interrupting whatever he was about to say by activating her next attack, “Unnamed [Mysterious Flying Shrine Maiden]!†Hovering in a pose with her arms stretched out not unlike the Youkai of Darkness, the six moon-coloured yin-yang orbs from before returned, this time not quite as close to her body. As they orbited around her body, they spat out a constant fire of talismans. In the meantime, she summoned an inner shield of talismans continuously, sending them off on homing fire at her youkai opponent, before replenishing the shield.
In short, it was one of her most powerful cards, one that helped to demonstrate just why the Maiden of Paradise was inarguably one of the greatest danmaku duelists in Gensokyo, and perhaps even the single greatest fighter there was with Spell Cards.
Which was why she frowned as even that wasn’t sufficient to take her opponent out of the running. He took occasional hits, just like he did with her prior Spell Cards, but she could never quite nail him with a direct strike to his ‘hit box’ at the center of his chest, or even a succession of several strikes against his limbs. Instead, he grazed the large majority of the talisman to come by him. Even dodging something by a hair’s width was still dodging an attack.
Her eyes widened as she realised how quickly her Spell Card was running out of energy. There wasn’t really an issue with that per se as she had many, many more Spell Cards up her sleeve, but she would have to put magical energy back into her Spell Cards again later to make them fit for danmaku once more, and secondly...
“Impressive,†Reimu remarked as her Unnamed card finally timed out, “That combination was enough once upon a time to take down an oni.†Even if that oni had been drunk off her loli rear end at the time.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,†Her youkai enemy said, before bringing out another Spell Card. “My turn.†Holding it up in the air, he declared it.
“World Card [World of Ice]â€
Sharp pinpricks of sensation needled at her skin as a frigid chill suddenly enveloped the cavern. The shock of the instant drop in temperature shocked her for a couple of seconds, before she shook her head and quickly moved, dodging a hail of icicle-shaped bullets. Having had enough practice with that one ice fairy, she was able to quickly push the cold to the back of her mind. Her body would acclimatise on its own as she continued to burn energy from the strenuous battle.
But that was unimportant compared to the environment of the cavern changing, as it began to snow indoors, even as the icicle-shaped bullets came perilously close to her. A Spell Card capable of altering the environment, even temporarily, was in the upper echelon of techniques. Reimu hoped that this was his final, most powerful Spell Card, considering how much energy it should take to summon it.
She forced down a shiver, lest it knock her concentration off during vital seconds. Was it her, or was it getting colder?
This ‘World Card’ was effective, Reimu realised as she failed to completely dodge a string of bullets sent her way, taking a couple of hits to her legs, before returning fire. It didn’t create any danmaku patterns on its own, though his regular bullets had turned into icicles with pointed ends, interspersed by larger blue-white diamonds, but by dropping the temperature in the environment and creating snow, she found it a lot harder to respond and dodge attacks. She cursed as she felt another icicle bullet hit her arm, and quickly moved away, attempting to reorient herself.
It was no good. Her outfit wasn’t precisely modest, but it still offered little protection against the elements, and she found herself shivering more and more, as her grip around her gohei rod weakened, her fingers turning numb. Even worse was the wind currents picking up as it began to howl, the architecture of the cavern designed to echo any noises severalfold, as it began to paralyse her face.
If his World Card didn’t time out quickly, she would need to activate her own next Spell Card pre-emptively, to give her body some heat again. That was, if her fingers could still grab her next Spell Card.
No. It really was no good. She saw the next set of bullet spam headed her way. Reimu’s mind screamed at Reimu’s body to move, but it was too slow to react. Several of them slammed right into her hit box, knocking her out.
-=-=-=-=
Unconsciousness only lasted a couple of seconds. It almost always did in a Spell Card duel, just long enough to make sure the defeated knew they were defeated. While danmaku bullets stung, the main thing they did when striking an opponent was to eat away at the ‘willpower’ of the victim. When somebody finally lost the will to duel, they lost.
It wasn’t something that occurred very often to Reimu, and so she was still about to fire off another round of bullets when she woke up again, before she froze. Her body felt looser than it had over the last twenty-odd minutes, and the snow had stopped falling, the stalactites stopped dropping from the ceiling, the wind stopped howling. Opposite her, her opponent stayed floating in the air, his face set in a neutral expression, his arms crossed. His own hands, which he had used to shape his danmaku bullets, were no longer pointed out at her.
“I...lost?â€
“Yes, you did,†Was his only response.
The very thought was unthinkable. Impossible. Even Yakumo Yukari, with her more metaphysical abilities to manipulate the boundaries of concepts, had been unable to secure a danmaku victory against her for years, when she should normally have been able to manipulate the boundary between victory and defeat. Hundreds had challenged her, hundreds had lost.
How had one man, not even the primary instigator of the latest incident, managed to win against her?
No. She would not accept this. It was a black mark against her pride, but Hakurei Reimu had always come out in the end.
“I challenge you to a rematch,†She asserted.
“No.â€
Startled, she jerked back. “What?!â€
“I said, no,†And with a start, Reimu realised the youkai before her was doing the buttons on his jacket up, and putting on the tie that he had taken off in the heat of battle. Before she could butt in again, he continued, “She gave me access to Gensokyo, and only required that I fight any intruders who attempted to reach her.†With a knowing glance sent her way, he concluded, “She never said I had to indefinitely delay those who desired to stop her.â€
Reimu grit her teeth. Much as she would like to reclaim her pride, he was right: beating up the witch right away was the more important thing. But still... “Will you be staying in Gensokyo, then?â€
“Hmm...†was all he had to respond with for a few seconds as his hands blurred, bringing his tie around his neck and creating a knot again with several quick sleight-of-hands Reimu could only barely follow. “Yes, I will be. I brought four friends of mine with me, humans with youkai ancestry who all had reason to escape the Outside. Come find me, or I’ll find you. We’ll play again.â€
The miko bared her teeth in a grin, half-predatory, half-relieved. “I’ll come find you no matter what. Nobody defeats me and gets away without a rematch.â€
“I’ll be waiting,†He said, flying off in the direction opposite that he had been guarding. Once he was but a pinprick in the background, Reimu was confident enough to turn around to the doors.
“You’ve given me a lot of trouble, witch,†Reimu said aloud, mostly to herself but also to the witch if she was somehow eavesdropping. “It’s time to teach you a lesson.â€
She did. Then, with the witch and her more zealous followers defeated, they decamped to the shrine along with Reimu’s followers for tea, quickly crashed upon by other youkai and a rare few humans who turned it a massive party, egged on by Suika and her gourd of her unlimited sake. Didn’t it always?
Things took a change for the unusual when Yukari finally came around with Ran for a debriefing on the latest incident, finally having stabilised the Great Hakurei Border.
---
Well, there we go, the first chapter of this thing. It'll probably be the only thing I drop an enormous thing like this down all at once, in the future I'll probably have a big scene like this released in smaller chunks.
Thanks to @[T.L] for some proofreading.