Part 30: Chapter 71 (Part 1)

Hello, welcome to Chapter 71, a special shorter-than-usual update.

You'll see why in a bit.



Here's our crew for the chapter. Maybe not in this exact arrangement, but...

Look, you'll see in a sec, ok?



Night passes, and then...



BGM: Border of Regular and Irregular Days

...Phew, made it on time.

Thanks to Eirin's drug, I had a nice, dreamless sleep last night.

Maybe Reimu will actually wake up on time for once, but knowing her...

...

Yo, Reimu!

Marisa? Never thought YOU'D be the first one here.

We haven't had an honest-to-goodness incident investigation for a while, so I hit the hay early last night.

Even with all that packing I had to do. See?

Wait... seriously? You're bringing all that? What's even IN those bags?

That's a secret. But aren't you the one taking this a bit too easy?

Yeah, I guess so. But I know what I need to do, so...

So I guess we're both as ready as we'll ever be.

Yup. All that's left is to kick ass.

Speaking of, am I really the first one here?

Yeah, but they should start trickling in any minute now.

Speaking of, people walk in.

..Oh? Marisa's already here?

And Reimu's already awake too. Thank goodness.

Oh, it's you four.

Good, we can save the energy we normally spend waking you up.

Looks like you've both got your game faces on today.

Hey there everyone. Doesn't this feel like the usual lineup though?

Sanae, you and Keine were here pretty late yesterday. Did you get enough sleep?

Yes, thank you. But you look pretty tired, Nitori.

Yeah, we were with Marisa until late last night.

But all of us getting together like this really hammers home the fact that we're resolving an incident.

Right. We've dealt with every other incident so far as a team.

Although we've gathered quite a crowd since the first one...

And then even more people show up.

True. You've even managed to make allies out of your former enemies.

And I expect you all to be grateful that I'm lending a hand.

The Scarlet Devil Mansion crew? Yeah, I guess you girls were the first.

What a long-awaited battle it was. Remi certainly enjoyed it.

Yeah, and we were there too! We just slipped in!

You could even say that we're part of the gang now!

And while crossing the Misty Lake...

You ran into US!

Hey, Cirno! I'M the leader, let ME talk!

Yeah, some fairies and worthless youkai started tagging along too.

Worthless?! Even a bug has a ninth of a soul!

Wasn't it an eighth last time? More souls for everyone!

Oh, sorry for having you get lumped in with us, Letty.

Clarste posted:

Doesn't this sound like Dai is dissing Letty?

You're friends. I don't mind.



flash flash

What a nice thing to say! And so different from the first time I interviewed you.

Good grief, are you ALREADY pulling out the camera, Aya?

Why shouldn't she? Actually, why don't you record this whole trip for us?

It could certainly help advertise the shrine. Everyone should know what we've done for them.

Oh, it's the Moriya Shrine and the rest of the mountain. As lively as ever, I see.

Hey, someone pour me another cup, kay?

Finally, another danmaku fiesta. Better make sure to enjoy this while we can.

If you want to enjoy this, then...

Then leave it to us!

Uwah! When'd the ghosts get here?!

...We shouldn't sneak up on people like that. It's bad for the heart.

Oh? But what exactly do you think a ghost is, Youmu?

This is the morning of the final battle. We shouldn't be joking around like this.

...You say that, but you seem to appreciate the lack of eagerness to fight.

You know, having you all show up at once like this won't get the tea served any faster.

Well that sucks. The temple crew are almost here too.

Actually, I can already see the Palanquin Ship headed over here.

Yeah! Looks like it's landing over there!

Yet more people show up.

Good morning, everyone.

Sorry, it looks like we're a little late.

Without the ship, you might have been even later.

Oh thank goodness! I was afraid we'd get lost like last time.

So you took the ship too, Mom?

Yes. Thanks to that, we've had a smooth trip.

They noticed us on the way and offered us a ride.

Looks like everyone's here already.

Yup. With this crew, we could make any team we wanted.

...What a wide array of people we've gathered. And not just from Gensokyo, even people from other worlds are helping out.

And now...

And again.

...I see you're all prepared.

Geez, this is a big crowd...

And such a disordered mess of them too. It's like a microcosm of the Earth.

The Lunar Envoys... I know we agreed to unite our forces, but to think we'll actually be fighting side by side.

It's just as strange to us as it must seem to you, but I hope we can get along.

Don't worry everyone, you can trust them. I guarantee it.

Glad to hear it. But I'm sure you had more to discuss last night, after we left.

Yes, and that's exactly why you can trust them.

So who's missing...? Just Yukari?

gap.wav

Don't you worry, I've been listening the whole time.

Our combined might will be nothing to scoff at.

The sage of the Earth... So are you the one leading this force then?

Oh no, not at all. I'm simply here to observe. This investigation is being led by Reimu and her friends.

These children have demonstrated true ability, and certainly won't slow you down.

Yes, I suppose we'll have to make an effort to keep up ourselves.

So anyway, now that we're all here, why don't we get this party started?

But before we go, how about a word from Alice and the teach?

...I don't like the way you dumped that on us, but fine.

So, to repeat, this is the final battle, so let's do one last check so we're all on the same page.



BGM: Fantasy Maiden Squadron

I can't remember, is this the first time we've heard this song before? It might be.

As you all know, Gensokyo has had its dreams stolen from us, to be replaced by daily nightmares that plague our thoughts.

This is dangerous. At this rate, even our way of life will be shaken.

The mastermind is a youkai who controls dreams, Makura Muwatari. And she and her minions are most likely hiding in Mugen Sekai.

Our current goal is to march into there and take back Gensokyo's dreams.

Invade her stronghold and change her mind by force. Simple enough.

Well, you can't really call it a PLAN though...

For all we know we're playing right into her hands...

Yeah, but how is that any different from what we usually do?

Right, we've never had the full picture whenever we go into an incident.

And despite that, we've resolved every last one.

Indeed. With everyone working together, there's nothing we can't do.

Which is why we're taking this just like we always do.

Right, but don't forget where we're going this time.

Mugen Sekai is in the space between Gensokyo and the dream world. By going there physically, we're putting both our minds and bodies at risk.

Not only that, but you should think of the mastermind's power there as absolutely omnipotent.

If anyone would like to back down, then now's your chance.

Hmph. Don't mock us.

We're the type who can't just sit back when someone else is messing with our Gensokyo.

I didn't hesitate for a second, and I doubt anyone else here did either. All of us are prepared to face the final battle.

And we all had a chance to face our feelings last night, I'm sure.

...True. It seems we're all of one mind at the moment.

This many connections is forming a huge swell.

Okay! Time to name our team then!

Seriously? You want us to have a team name?

I also find that a little odd, given that we're not a military.

Perhaps it could help with our solidarity though. You can think of it as commemorating the occassion.

Fine, then how about...



Say hello to a random text pop-up. This is a Game Maker game, after all.

So yeah, we're naming our team. The game helpfully provides a default, but it's in Japanese, so that's no good! It roughly translates to Fantasy Maiden Squadron btw, same as the song name. I'll give you more details on how we're voting for this in the next post.

To those of you without Something Awful accounts: sorry, get owned I guess.