Flandre's Quest (Touhou) World - (Madness Quest)

[X] You don't need those legs anyway! Tear yourself away from the tower-demon and fly away.
- [X] Try to find someplace moderately safe and break the tower.
- [X] Vita may want to warn others that the portal -may- carry an explosion you're about to cause and that if anyone is close to one, they may want to get ready just in case.


You watch the tower-demon consume its … presumed kin, then shake your head. Maybe when it's just woken up and is really cranky, it might attack its fellows, but once it's fully awake you probably won't be able to count on it. And the night-demons were definitely using the tower for something. You look down at the massive nail protruding through your torso and sigh, relieved that you don't experience physical pain and trauma quite the same way humans do. Then, before the tower-demon can maybe get the idea that you might make a nice snack, you tear yourself off the thing's nail and fly out of the tower. Your clones dart up to pepper the tower-demon with danmaku, covering your escape, and it responds with a massive storm of lightning bolts - one clone, hit directly, simply explodes, and the other two suffer burns from near-misses. They served their initial purpose, however, which was to allow you to flee the tower-demon successfully.

Vita's eyes widen as you glide toward her, and you finish regenerating your legs just before picking her and the Unison Device up. "… Things didn't go as planned, huh?" You give her a look, but she just sounds tired, and she doesn't look like she's mocking you.

"Can you contact everyone else from here, still?" She frowns as you fly out of the chasm, keeping things between yourself and the tower as much as you can. "So, that tower is going to explode violently as soon as we get far enough away. Like I said earlier, it's probably connected to their portal network, and depending on how that is set up, there's a chance that it could transmit the explosion through the portals before they collapse. And, you know, that would be good, kill lots of the night-demons if it happens, but …." You slow and duck behind a ruin of some kind, your clones keeping watch on the tower. "Well, you see how far I think it's safe. Anyone near the portals might want to get away, or put up some kind of shield, real quick." Vita's eyes narrow as she stares off into space, then she jerks her head in affirmation.

"Everyone's braced. How are you going to -!" She twitches as the tower explodes, and the clone you'd been using to keep watch on it is pulverized by some manner of flying debris, and you hear several more impacts of stone-on-stone. The shockwave, followed closely by a sustained roar, makes the building you're behind tremble violently, but once it calms down you float up to see the results of your handiwork.

You probably could have been closer, although then you would have been at risk from the debris slung by the explosion. The chasm collapsed, and you're pretty sure there's a shallow crater as well - certainly, the great fortress is visible now, and you don't think it's just because of destruction of the trees and buildings. Of the tower itself, of course, there's no more sign, and you nod to yourself. "Well? Ask them how things went." Vita gawks at the cracked landscape, then scowls at you.

"How the hell did you do that?" You shake your head.

"Later. Did -"

"How?!" She wrenches herself out of your grasp and points Graf Eisen at you. You sigh, suppressing your frustration.

"Later. Is everyone okay? How are things on Hroth?" She trembles - she's afraid, you finally realize - then buries her emotions and looks away. After a minute, she glides down to the ground and finds a spot to sit down.

"… Their worldwide portal network collapsed. Not as violently as that, but it seemed to stun the night-demons all the same, and they haven't recovered very well. They do seem to have one open portal left, and it's near where Vivio's group was overrun; not sure if it's set up on a different network, or if there's some other reason it didn't close. The air seems … clearer, though, so wide-area spells are actually useful now, and they hope to find her group soon. Alph says they should find Satsuki soon, too. But we -" Your hand lashes out to grab the front of Vita's shredded dress and yank her around to face you.

"I'm sorry, what was that about Satsuki?" She doesn't look at you.

"… She didn't come back with Carim and Verossa when she rescued them. She went berserk and kept tearing into the night-demons, and they lost track of her. They hadn't found her when I told you about her last time." She forces herself to meet your eyes. "And I didn't tell you then because I figured something like this would happen, and it was more important that something be done about the night-demons than have you demand to go back so you can look for her." You start trembling furiously.

"Well, something has been done about them, so now we can go back and look for her." Vita, suddenly looking so very small, looks down and shakes her head.

"Something about collapsing the portals made it hard to connect here and Hroth. Shamal can't make teleport us out. I probably can, but … it'll take me an hour or so to get enough power back. I … I'm sorry, Flandre, really, but -!" You hurl the knight away, and it sounds like something snaps when she hits a wall. You loom over her, furious, and lift her by her throat, glare into her eyes.

"So, now that you have what you want from me, I'm just supposed to sit and wait like a good little girl?" She doesn't have a response to that, and you shove her away. You can imagine what happened to Satsuki. She felt like you thought she wasn't good enough, so she wanted to prove herself and decided to attack the night-demons single-handedly … or, maybe, she really did intend to just get Carim and Verossa out, and either gave in to bloodlust or was forced to make a choice and either push in to draw their attention or risk Carim and Verossa getting overrun anyway. Regardless … your fault. Whatever happened to her, it's your fault.


What do you do?

[ ] Wait for Vita to recover enough to teleport you back to Hroth, then find Satsuki.

[ ] Find the portal hub Vita found, maybe it's still active and you can get back to Hroth faster that way.
- [ ] Drag Vita along with you.

[ ] Maybe there's something useful you can do in that great fortress?
- [ ] Drag Vita along with you.

[ ] Other?

[X] Find the portal hub Vita found, maybe it's still active and you can get back to Hroth faster that way.
- [X] Drag Vita along with you.
- [X] And while you're at it, Vita can stay useful and inform the other side that if they DO find Satsuki, that they may want to be careful if she's really berserk, since she's not likely to make the difference between friends or foes. As satisfying as it may be right now, this will not make making up with Satsuki better if she tears apart someone, even more if she know them.


You shake yourself, snapping yourself out of a depressive fit before it can really start, and snap your wings. You can mope around, or you can actually do something. "Vita, how do we get to that portal hub you found from here?" It takes a moment for her to respond, and you scowl as she raises Graf Eisen to point out the way - her grip is much too loose, so you must have broken something when you threw her. Her other arm gently cradles the Unison Device. "… You can still contact the outside world, right?" She nods glumly.

"Yeah. Can you wait until I say goodbye to Hayate, at least?" You roll your eyes and pick her up - not roughly, but not particularly carefully, either.

"Tell whoever's looking for Satsuki to be very careful. She doesn't have my self-control, and I don't think she has any blood packs with her. So when you said she went 'berserk', that may be truer than you think, because after this much time and spending that much energy, she may not be capable of recognizing friend or foe, only potential prey. So anyone getting near her, even if it's someone she knows and trusts, may well end up being eaten by her. And satisfying as that may be, she's still a good person and knowing she's done that will hurt her when she's back to normal." You throw yourself into the air, absorbing your surviving clone before spawning the three anew. Vita is quiet, presumably talking to someone on Hroth.

"… Couldn't she feed on these night-demons? They do bleed, sort of …." You glance down at the raspy-voiced knight. She really doesn't look good. You slow down as you see the horde of night-demons and start tracking them to their destination. 'Millions' was probably a very conservative estimate, and you scowl at them but keep your clones nearby.

"Possibly. Based on what she told me about how her body processes blood, though, it might not do anything for her. The worse possibility is that it will make her more like a night-demon."

"… Huh?" You shake your head at the knight's incredulous response. There is indeed a lone portal operating at the hub, built not atop a foundation of black rocks, but into a massive slab of a different kind of stone, translucent and gleaming. You give your clones their orders and set them loose; two dive into the throng of night-demons milling around the portal while the third swoops through the portal itself. Vita looks up at you, face ash-grey as she holds on through sheer willpower. You watch the brawl for a few moments, waiting until the reds join their brown brethren in trying to deal with your clones, then nod.

"Now," you say, not giving Vita any more warning before diving toward the portal yourself. As you instructed, your final clone is busy butchering the night-demons on the other side - a good thing, because you weren't expecting to find the portal underground, much less an unworked tunnel with a ceiling height of only a few meters. As much a surprise as the location is, the fact that your clone isn't alone in fighting the night-demons is another, although Deed is in as bad shape as Vita, if not worse. One of the cyborg's arms hangs uselessly, flailing wildly as she ducks and spins, slashing with her remaining sword, and even through the poor lighting you can see numerous wounds through her shredded clothing. You glance at the barely-conscious knight in your arms and shrug before tearing through the remaining night-demons with lethal bullets. The air in here is still as malignant as it was through the portal, and, like flaring your aura, the bullets seem more powerful as a result. As the last night-demon falls to the rocky ground Deed slumps as well, breathing heavily as she barely keeps from completely falling forward. Your clones dart through the portal after you and you order them back to you so you can refresh and retether them. Then you approach the fallen cyborg and examine her more closely. Her useless arm looks like at least one green drove its hand-blades into her shoulder, her legs have so many injuries you're amazed she was able to move as well as she did; the right side of her face looks like she was attacked by a particularly lucky green, or a particularly tenacious brown that managed to bite her head - most debilitating is probably the complete loss of her right eye, much like her sister.

"L-Lady … F-Fandre …." You drift closer as your clones move to intercept the night-demons that are once again spilling through the portal; wide as the area is, they'll be able to keep tem away from you at least until a superior red comes through. Deed looks at you pleadingly. "Sister … Shock and …." You nod irritatedly at her worsening slur.

"And Vivio. They're both still alive?" She manages a nod and you look away, scowling. Not that you really mind helping Schach, but it's taking time away from your search for Satsuki. On the other hand … red light glimmers and Vita's combat outfit dissolves, leaving her wearing a normal brown uniform, Graf Eisen's chain looped around her wrist. With her out of commission and no one else around, you can simply kill Deed and leave Schach and Vivio to their own devices. You half-turn and look at the portal; breaking this one will definitely make an explosion, and if it won't be as large as the tower-demon's, you also don't know what else is above this location … or below it, for that matter. Besides, leaving it intact means you aren't sealing off the night-demons entirely, and that might be handy!


What do you do?

[ ] Kill Deed and try to find out where Satsuki is.

[ ] Let Deed guide you to where Schach is.
- [ ] Protect them until Vita or Schach can communicate well enough to get you all teleported out.
- [ ] Fight your way through the night-demons' tunnels; if Schach and the others got in, there must be an entrance somewhere.

[ ] Other?