[x] Take it slowly. Really slowly. This is your first drive in months, and it is both snowing and night.

I learned the hard way that driving at the same speed as others when you're rusty is a horrible idea.

[x] Drive about as fast as the others, show that you are proud to be a cruiser. Be careful.

[x] Stick to the speed limit. Oh wait, Autobahn. There isn't any. FLOOR IT, NOW!
What's a CYOA without an injured or dead protagonist to start out?

[x] Stick to the speed limit. Oh wait, Autobahn. There isn't any. FLOOR IT, NOW!

[x] Take it slowly. Really slowly. This is your first drive in months, and it is both snowing and night.

>my first story here on THP.

You didn't make your story on /th/. This already puts you a cut above the rest. Obviously there isn't much more I can say based solely on this singular update, but it makes me reminiscent of the older stories. This is a good thing. Keep it up.

[x] Take it slowly. Really slowly. This is your first drive in months, and it is both snowing and night.

The amount of bad idea that not doing this is is hard to overstate.

Stupid cirno, that's not how you do that bonus stage!

[x] Take it slowly. Really slowly. This is your first drive in months, and it is both snowing and night.
Looking good, but you'll excuse me if I don't get my hopes up: in www.hiatus-project.com, it just isn't healthy.

Calling the votes now. Suprisingly responsible of you, Anon.

Also, look at that, I've got a name and trip now, how lovely.

>>25556
>but it makes me reminiscent of the older stories.

How exactly?

>>25559
Nothing definite. Just the feel, tone, and atmosphere of your writing. There isn't an air of mega-serious business, and it's reminiscent of old times.. Feels good man.

You shake your head. No, no. No. Bad idea. You're out of training, it's freezing, and you can't see much further than your brake path. Also, this is a) your first ride in this car, so you don't want to destroy it, b) your first ride in this car, so you have no real idea of its quirks and little specialties, and c) if you have an accident as soon as your parents get you a car, then that's not really a sign of trust, or caution.

So you slow down. You start creeping down the street. Well, not really creeping, sixty km/h are still pretty fast in this weather, but it certainly seems that way because of all the other drivers rushing by.
A few minutes later, you get tense in all the silence. So you turn on the cassette player and- oh what, this thing still has a cassette player? Seems like dad didn't get all of the modern new things you enjoy. There is a funny cassette stuck in the slit though. Out comes a cable. You follow it down and find out that the end turns into a standard headphones plug. After a moment of wondering, you get it. You plug it into your MP3-Player and switch on the music. Something slow and smooth, fitting to your style of driving. Riders Of The Storm NFSU remix it is. You bob your head to the rhythm and head on, a speck of light in the darkness.

Then, like on-demand for the music, a ridiculously tuned and pimped-out car pulls up next to you. You can vaguely identify it as what would have been left of a Ford Clio after Xzibit, MacGyver and The Engineer from TF2 each had a go at it. Inside are what seems to be three hip-hoppers, or LANs as you call them, Loons of Alien Nations. They wildly wave at you, keep revving up their cars' engine and flash their headlights. The funny green strip lights they glued at the underside blink in unison. The message is clear. You just look at them and shake your head.

They jeer at you, then wave you off and hit the gas. Speeding away, you see flames coming out of the car's exhaust pipes. It's not like you wouldn't like flooring it every now and then, but not under theses conditions. You still want to be around to floor it another time. It's not like there is a nagging pressure inside your head, urging you to go faster and faster until you-

-is that a little girl?

Yes. Goddammit. There, at the side of the road, a tiny little girl is walking, trudging through the snow in nothing more than a thin, short sleeved blue dress and a pair of small shoes.. You can see it whipping around in the wind, though not much, given how wet it already is it's clinging pretty tightly to her. She hugs her arms close to her body and even on this distance you notice her shivering. Her green hair is a complete mess and sticks to her head and neck, a yellow ribbon stuck in it. There probably isn't a single dry thread on her.

Your radio keeps spewing out the rap.
“There's a killer on the road...
His brain is squirmin' like a toad...
If ya give this man a ride
Sweet family will die
Killer on the road, yeeeaaaah...."

No, come on, are you fucking kidding me?! With a slam, you eject the cassette-thing from the port. It clatters down into the front passengers legroom. The music stops, only a faint whisper of the tune coming out of the speakers of your phone.

You step on the brakes, right then and there. How did she get here in the first place? It's not like there are any footpaths leading out here. And which responsible parent would let his child out in the storm like this anyway? Your dad wouldn't, you can be certain of that. As you slowly come to a halt a few meters ahead of the girl, you think of what to do.

You get out of the car, turn around and oh mother of god what is this supposed to be? The poor thing looks even more miserable from this perspective. Bathed in the red glow of your taillights, you notice how dirty she is. There are a few tears in her dress, and as far as you can tell, in her eyes too. She must be freezing. As you walk up to her, she turns over and looks at you. She seems... scared? Surprised? You ask her...

[ ] Write-in

(if only because I couldn't think of anything)

Also, it is very hard to find pictures of Touhoues in the snow, especially at night.

[x] If you promise not to kill me, I'll take you wherever you want.
Yeah, weird thing to say, but I blame 'Riders on the Storm'

[x] "Are you alright?"

Seriously guys. First thing you ask someone who looks fucked up.

>Riders of the storm NFSU
>Snoop Dogg

You have got to be kidding me. I had to waste my time googling this piece of shit. What the fuck.

>>25563
You didn't listen to it, did you? Well, I can't blame you for escaping after reading Snoop Dog.
You see, in the real world, remixes aren't always that great. Stick to the original:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKbPUzhWeeI

>>25564
No, no, I did my homework. I spent enough time to realize that he wasn't referencing the much better original, and actually was referring to the dogshit Snoop Dogg remix from Need For Speed Underground (that's the NSFU for the slow.) That's where the anger comes from.

[x] "Are you alright?"

[X] "Are you alright?"

Poor Daiyousei. Strange how the MC doesn't even react to the fact she has green hair.

>You plug it into your MP3-Player and switch on the music.
>The music stops, only a faint whisper of the tune coming out of the speakers of your phone.
Which is it, a phone or a dedicated MP3 player? If it's actually a phone, say so in the first place.

> Strange how the MC doesn't even react to the fact she has green hair.

Considering everything else he noticed about her, it's an afterthought.

What I'd like to know however, is why Daiyousei is on our side of the Border in the first place.

[X] "Are you alright?"

[x] "Are you alright?"

[x] "Are you alright?"

Called. I can't believe I was too dull to think of that on my own...

>Which is it, a phone or a dedicated MP3 player? If it's actually a phone, say so in the first place.

Yeah, that's what I get for trying to write what I dont know. My phone is a mp3-player, so when I think of one, I think of the other. For the rest of the story, It'll be the phone.

>>25570

Hooray!

>>25562
That picture twisted my heart like nothing has for quite some time. Imagining Dai in a similar situation makes it worse. Anyways, this is a nice story so far.

[X] “Are you alright?”

You don't want to seem like some sort of creepy guy who stalks little kids in the middle of the night, but on the other side, little kids shouldn't be running around on the edge of the frigging Autobahn either, especially not in a snowstorm. Now that you think about it, it has considerably strengthened after your departure from Reutlingen. No matter, there are more important things at hand here, like the girl who still didn't answer the question you asked her. She just shrunk back a bit, as if she expected you to... attack her or something.

“Uh... didn't you hear me? I asked you if you, um, were alright?” you repeat yourself.

She just shrinks back again, her eyes locked onto yours, wide open. You are pretty sure that that is what a “I am scared to my death but holding myself together”-face looks like. Maybe you look too imposing? Size-wise, you've taken after your father, and are just a bit shorter than he is. This kid barely goes up to the lower end of your chest, probably a bit shorter.

Sadly, this does not change the fact that you have no impromptu-shrinking-powers. Would be cool though. Might as well try more talking. Try something simpler.

“...are you cold?” you ask her.

At least she doesn't flinch away. Instead, she looks to the side, trying to avoid your gaze. A complete 180 in a matter of seconds. Shit's be trippin, yo. You guess that's just what kids in her age are like. A car drives by, the noise filling your ears.

“...no.” she says, while trembling like a leaf. You think you can hear her teeth clatter. Riiight, fine. Two can play that game, little miss.

“Oh. Good. Because I wouldn't want to annoy you with the offer to drive along in my car.” She looks up to you. You nod over to the Iron Chariot a few meters ahead of you. A doubtful look settles on her face. You look to the side and talk into the wind.

“You know, my dry car. My dry, warm car. Where you can sit while you move. With no wind and snow.” It disturbs you how much fun this is. You glance over to her. There is this spark in her eyes now. You cannot place it, predatory? A hopeful gleam?

“Where I have a warm blanket and soft pillows...” you say while leaning in to her. She looks like she is just about to pounce you and let herself be carried off. Time for the finishing blow.

“But I guess that is nothing for such a big girl like yourself. You're warm already, after all.” says you, and turn away, walking down the road towards your car like the massive bell end you just painted yourself as. Shut up, conscience. In the end, it's for her own good.

You suppress the urge to grin as you feel a tug on your arm. Turning around, you see the little girl holding onto your sleeve with one hand, the other balled up into a little tiny fist at her side. Her eyes are fixed downward. She mumbles something, but you don't hear her over the din of the traffic.

“What was that? I didn't get you.” A moment later, she lifts her head and looks at you with those big, sad, teary eyes, and mumbles something again, though this time you can gleam some meaning off it.

“...se mister, would you.....de along?”

You get the meaning alright. You also feel no need to choke a full confession out of this kid, like bastards in comedy shows sometimes do. You just pat her on her head, mussing up her hair even worse than before, if that was possible, and tell her:

“Alright kid, just a sec.”

You walk over to the trunk of your car and open it. It's time to check out what dad gave you along. Just as you suspected, in a corner of the trunk lays one of those mottled gray blankets you and your father used to spread out over the floor when working with greasy motor parts. Luckily, this one seems to be brand new and devoid of any oil stains. You take it out, shut the tailgate with a thud and approach her again. She gives you a questioning look. You can almost not believe it.

“Uh, you're dripping wet. If you don't dry up, you won't get warm.” An understanding 'aah' from her later, you've wrapped her up and are leading her to your car, holding one arm around her little form. She just trudges along. As you peek a look at her, you notice... a faint blush? Oh come on. Nothing to be embarrassed about.
Even you would feel cold in such a getup!

After opening the back door for her and nudging her inside, you move back to the front of the car. Plopping down into the drivers' seat, you slam the door shut. Finally some silence. You shut your eyes, take a deep breath, and release it. Then you turn around. She just sits there, looking as if she had never been in a car before, goggling at the seats, the doors, the roof. At least she seems to make herself somewhat comfortable, sinking into the cushions. Her skin is fair, a bit whiter than you. Her hair is still wet, but a little dryer thanks to the blanket all over her now. Strangely dry, actually. You didn't expect this to work so fast. As she notices the look you're giving her and turns to look at you, you speak up.

“So, little one, first things first: what's your name?”

She blinks. It seems as if she expected you to say something different.

“Daiyousei.” she says.

“Aah, Dey Jose, eh? You're Spanish? Or Mexican?” you misunderstand.

“I'm a fai-” she interrupts herself. Looks at you, then away. “...um, yes, I'm not from around here.” she tells you. “But I'm not... any of those. And my name is Daiyousei! What's yours, anyway?” Her voice is really high.

Of course you noticed her little slip there. But you decide not to press. The drive, wherever it will go, will be long. More than enough time.

You give her a laugh and a smile, followed by your name. “OK, Daijosey. Where are you from then?”

“I'm from... the east. Japan, actually.” Huh. Weird, she has no accent at all. I guess she grew up here and her parents are Japanese.

“Alright, Dai. ...is it OK if I call you Dai?” you ask. She nods. “Alright, lets just get down to business.” Almost instantly, she looks very tense again. You decide to calm her a little “I seriously do not want to put pressure on you but... what is a little girl like you doing out here, all alone in the middle of a snowstorm?” She shies away.

“I am... going somewhere.”

Not getting away like that, little one. “Uh-huh. And where?”

“...you know. That place up the road.” she tells you, still not looking at you.

“Hmm. Mind telling me the name? You can't go to a place you don't know after all”

“The... human... village?” she stammers out.

You sigh. Your eyebrows lower. “Look, forget it. Just forget it, OK? Tell me where your parents are, I'll take you back to them.”

Completely nonchalantly, she tells you “I don't have any.”

oh.

OH SNAP.

Mentally reeling from the rather hard mistake you just made, you try to formulate the next thing to say. She doesn't seem bothered at all though. What did she go through to make her like this?

“...uh, I'm sorry.” you force out.

“Its alright.” she says. She gives you a slight smile.

You gulp. What to do, what to do?

“Well, whe-where do you live, anyway? Where's your home?”

“I live in the forest.” she tells you, like the most natural thing in the world.

“WHAT? You mean, that forest there?” You point outside.

“No, a different one.”

“Where is it?” Maybe she's living in a cottage or something.

“In Japan, of course.”

… right. You know that little kids are bad at lying, and this kid doesn't seem to make any effort right now. On the other side, what she is saying is so completely insane that you cannot help but doubt it. You decide that even if she has lost her parents, there still has to be someone she is living with. Otherwise... she probably wouldn't have survived December, or November for that matter. Time to ask.

“Well, Dai, do you have any... other... relatives around here?” Gotta start somewhere.

She just cocks her head to the side. Right, use smaller words.

“You know, an aunt, an uncle, a brother, a sister?”

On this she pipes up. “Oh yes, I have Cirno!”

Now it's your time to cock your head. You can't place the name into a nationality at all. “...Cirno. Cirno? Hmm... well, fine, I guess. Who's she to you?”

“She's... um... my big sister, you could say.” She smiles a little bit wider at you. You choose to ignore the rather blatant vagueness.

“Good. Where does she live?”

“Together with me in the forest.” Dude, use your brain, would you? She most certainly doesn't do it much, so you have to make up for it.

“I mean, where is she right now? What direction?” As if she just remembered something bad, her smile wavers, then drops from her face. Daiyousei hangs her head, almost propping it up on her chest, and you think you can hear faint sobbing. This does not bode well at all. She seemed so cheerful just a second ago.

“She...” Dai sobs. “She said... 'don't worry, I'll go ahead and get help! I can deal with the cold, after all!'... andthenshejust LEFT ME!” She sobs more and more. Jesus, girl, whats going on? Mood swings much?

“She just walked on! She didn't wait for me! I yelled at her to stop, but she just gave me that stupid grin and kept going! I couldn't keep up! She's bigger than me! She's faster than me! The snow doesn't hurt her! I was all alone and no one was there! I- I- I--...” the rest is broken up by sobs and sniffing.

This can't go on like this. You cannot drive with a weeping girl on the backseat after all. Also, this Cirno girl must be found... and fixed. She's going in the same direction as you? Well fine, then you can probably pick her up along the roadside just like this one. She must be taught what it means to be a proper big sister. But first, Daiyousei. She's crying more and more by the second, and you think she just used your blanket as a blowrag.

What to do, what to do indeed.

-[ ] Wait until she stops by herself. Say little, or nothing.
-[ ] Talk to her; try to calm her down.
-[ ] Put a hand on her shoulder.
-[ ] Hug her.
-[ ] Write-in.

Multiple choice possible.

If you talk, specify the direction.

-[ ] Cirno is bad, I'll fix that.
-[ ] I bet she only tried to help.
-[ ] Write-in.

Also, choose a piece of music to put on the sound system before continuing the drive.

WRITE-INS FOR EVERYTHING ARGH I HAVE NO BRAIN AND I MUST THINK

[x] Hug her.
-[x] "Don't worry, we'll find her"
[x] I bet she only tried to help.
-[x] "But she has to learn to listen to what you say... "

[x] Put a hand on her shoulder, then hug her.
-[x] "Don't worry, we'll find her"
[x] I bet she only tried to help.
[x] Not rap.

Open-ended music vote since I can't think of anything specifically. No need to scar Dai just yet.

Forgot to vote for the song:

[x] The Killers - A Dustland Fairytale

[x] Talk to her; try to calm her down.

[x] I bet she only tried to help.
-[x] "But she has to learn to listen to what you say... "

I don't think getting too close is a good idea right now. We have no idea how she'll react.

[x] Hug her.
-[x] "Don't worry, we'll find her"
[x] I bet she only tried to help.
-[x] "But she has to learn to listen to what you say... "

>“Daiyousei.” she says.

>“Aah, Dey Jose, eh? You're Spanish? Or Mexican?” you misunderstand.

'Daiyousei' is pronounced 'Dye-yoh-say'. Just pointin' that out. (Might have been what you intended, given the ambiguity of of 'Dey').

[x] Put a hand on her shoulder, then hug her.
-[x] "Don't worry, we'll find her"
[x] I bet she only tried to help.
[x] Not rap.
-[x] Unless its Duane or Brand0.

[x] Put a hand on her shoulder, then buckle her seatbelt.
-[x] "Don't worry, we'll find her."
[x] I bet she only tried to help.
[x] Max Coveri - "Running in the 90s"

The fastest way to calm the girl down will be to find Cirno as quickly as possible. Now that Dai's safe enough, that there's another person out there, presumably suffering from hypothermia, should be the protagonist's foremost concern.

Nice car, wide open road, Germany, with no time to lose? It practically begs this Eurobeat classic.

[x] Put a hand on her shoulder, then hug her.
-[x] "Don't worry, we'll find her"
[x] I bet she only tried to help.
[x] JAM Project - Hagane no Messiah

(most of my other suggestions would be IOSYS or Iron Attack, so...yeah...not those)

Also author, I've a question for you: Are you thinking of naming this story? I have this strange feeling its going to get a second thread (unless the story ends when you find cirno which would be fucking gay), and by a second thread you would need a title, no?
Anyways, liking this story so far.

[x] Put a hand on her shoulder, then hug her.
-[x] "Don't worry, we'll find her"
[x] I bet she only tried to help.

Fucking site went down and I couldn't post!

[x] Put a hand on her shoulder, then hug her.
-[x] "Don't worry, we'll find her"
[x] I bet she only tried to help.

Sadly, the musical choices you've provided were not really fitting for the mood in my opinion, text- or sound-wise. So I went ahead and chose something neutral.

AAA

Alright, here goes nothing. It's not like you have much experience in calming down little crying girls, but this seems like one of the few situations were 'just doing what comes natural' seems like a good option. So you do.

The poor thing is still sobbing and sniffing like it lost everything it ever held dear. In retrospect, that may very well be true. You lean over the backrest, into the space between the two front seats, reach out to her and put your hand on her shoulder. The reaction is immediate.

She stiffens up. Her sobs abruptly come to a halt, and even the sniffing subsides. Slowly, really really slowly she lifts her head up. As you finally get a good view of her face, you almost whish you didn't. Her eyes are red and puffy, swollen even and her mouth is screwed shut as hard as she can. Nonetheless, those puffy eyes are torn wide-open and staring at you, unwavering, unflinching. Dai just looks at you as if you spoken out a death threat to her, as if you are going to reach a little to the right and tear her head clean off.

You don't notice, you big dolt.

Instead, you just give her the best smile you can put up and pull her over to you, lifting her off the backseat in the process and putting your other arm around her. She's really light. With a little 'whff' of fabric, she rests against your shoulder and is being snuggled into your jacket. You pat her on the back a few times, but this does not soften up the wooden-board-like feeling the girl radiates. You decide to speak up.

“Listen, kiddo... I know you've only met me a few minutes ago, and I guess that is not really the most trust-building state of things, but I'll promise you one thing right now: I will find your big sister for you.” You pat her on the back again. She seems to have softened up at your words, leaning against you a little. Her breathing, right next to your ear, has calmed somewhat.

“I know you're probably angry about how she just walked on like that, but from what you've said I guess she really just wanted to help you.” She sobs at your words again. You hurry to continue. “Sometimes... things go wrong, you know, even when you mean best. I bet she is still ahead and looking for people. She hasn't given you up.” You can hear quiet sobs again. You have problems telling whether this is good or bad, given what she did before. She pulls out of your embrace. Her eyes are watering again, she sniffs and sobs more..

“Ruh-Really, mister? You really sure?” She is looking so lost here.

“Really.” You are the castle, the immovable object, the PORT in the STORM.

She sniffs again. You can see her tearing up.

And then she weeps like she never wept before. She leaps into your arms, pushing herself over to you and clinging to you like her life depends on it. She cries and cries, right into your shoulder, tears of fear and loss and worry. It seems like t will never end; you just pat her on the back all along, whispering 'shh' and 'it's alright' over and over again.

…

...

After a long, loud time, she slowly calms down, coming down to a few sniffs, before silencing completely and just hanging onto your shoulder for a few minutes. Then she slumps back onto her seat. Looking utterly beat, she leans against the backrest and hangs her head. At least she got all of that out of her system now. You reach over to her and buckle her up, then wrap some of the blanket that slipped off back around her. She doesn't even notice. Or maybe she just didn't care, you're no mind reader. Would be cool though.

Turning back to the front, you get this nagging feeling at the back of your head, like something is wrong but you just cannot put your finger on it. You have a hunch though. Looking into the back mirror, you give her a once-over. Then a twice-over. Then a few more. Something is off. Her skin? No. Her face? No. Her hair? No.

blue hair

Hmm, but something is wrong, you just know that.

blue hair blue hair

You need to look closer. Was it something on her clothes?

blue hair blue hair blue hair

Your eyes go to her hair for a moment. Blue. Nah, perfectly normal. You drop the issue.

Before driving off, you want to switch on some music though. Not wanting to scare little Dai with some of the more... vocal songs of your collection, you just decide to play an old instrumental piece you've picked up from some game soundtrack. Before starting up though, you turn around and ask Dai if it would be alright.

“Hey Dai, would it be OK if I...” you trail off. Dai has snuggled up to the backseat, making herself really comfortable, pulling her legs close to her and hugging them. The blanket is off again. You wrap it around once more and give her a few very slight pats. She sniffs.

You just smile and turn the volume really low. before starting up the engine, buckling yourself up and hitting the play button.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImVdSo0-7YQ

This going to be a long night...



[TO BE CONCLUDERATED]

>>25590
I have a name now, it's FaceMeltor. About the story name, I am not sure jet. There are some candidates though. For example:

- [ ] 0711 [that's the area code around there; might add something after that, NOT AVAILIBLE maybe]
- [ ] The Driver [you know why]
- [ ] CARNONYMOUS [the pun, it burns]
- [ ] Roadkill Adventures [reference ahoy]
- [ ] as always, WRITE-IN

I'll be busy writin' the next set. Feel free to rant and speculate wildy now. The more you talk, the more I'll write.

Also, yes, that song is a hint.

[x] The Driver
Available. And I know you were trying to make something as normal as 'To be continued' a little funnier, but I have a personal distaste of intentional (or not) misspellings. The music was much better though, it gives a kinda road-trip-story vibe.

That said, looking forward to the next update, this CYOA has a good feeling on it-or maybe I'm just projecting.

>blue hair

Pretty sure she had green hair.

>Her green hair is a complete mess and sticks to her head and neck, a yellow ribbon stuck in it. There probably isn't a single dry thread on her.

Unless toweling the snow out of her hair with the blanket washed out some hair dye. False identity?

If it is, I hope a surprise karakasa doesn't cause us to drift into the oncoming lane.

- [x] 0711

>>25602

And here I thought I had had my fill of derp for the day. It is supposed to be green. Greeeeeen. Dammit. I need to clean up and double check my posts. More. Sorry for being sloppy.

[x] 0711

How nice. Now, did we not notice her wings while hugging her, or were they removed when she crossed the border?

>>25604
The second option, for sure. How can he miss something as strange...
>Your eyes go to her hair for a moment. Blue. Nah, perfectly normal. You drop the issue.
...as having wings?

[x] The Driver

So tempted to name it CARNONYMOUS, but I realized that is what the MC should colloquially be known as, and not the title of the story. Good times.

I say we dont decide on giving it a name till it gets close to auto-sage.

>>25605
She wasn't flying around, so it's probably safe to say she lost those and any supernatural characteristics.

http://www.youtubeloop.com/v/hr1ha1E22jw


The snow blows against the windshield, only to be pushed away by the wipers again and again. You sit, almost leaning over the steering wheel, trying to get a good look at the street. Your fog lights are on already, trying to fight the bad conditions out there, to no avail. The weather has worsened considerably since you've picked up Dai, it's like a fight against Mother Nature herself.

Heh. That would be a spectacle. Shame you're never going to see it literally though.

For now, you have to stick to metaphorical fights. Like this drive through the storm. As the wind blows against your car yet again, and you have to counter-steer not to get pushed to the side, you think about what you had on schedule for the evening.

The plan had been, hop onto the train to Reutlingen, meet with dad and deal with whatever he wanted to meet you for, then get back on the train, walk over to your buddies' home, start up all the three computers there, have a massive LAN-party and get smashed in the process. A nice evening, as you were bound to have together with Those Two Guys.

Looks like you playing white knight for a little girl completely dismantled any chances for a nice, relaxed evening though. Well, at least it will yield you cool-points. Nothing better to brag about than saving two little girls' lives. Gah, what the fuck am I thinking?! I should do this out of principle anyway! Not for the reward!

You mull over the idea of bringing the kid, or kids, if you can find the other one, over to your friends' home. They have a fairly nice place set up there, and there are a few couches and sleeping bags around. You would know, after all the parties that happened there. You are a little unsure of the legal situation of this though; wouldn't you have to get her to the child services or the police or something? You push the thoughts aside. First things first. Find the sister.

Even with all the effort you've made for Dai, who is still sleeping peacefully on the backseat by the way, you cannot help but get a little pessimistic about this. You can barely keep the car on the road, and this is a 1,5-ton steel box. The old air-conditioning is straining to keep the car warm, and you think there may be some of the cold creeping inside already. Your feet are clad in heavy winter-proof boots, you wouldn't know. You don't want to think what this all would do to a kid, probably clad in little more than a thin dress. It must be a horrible feeling.

Maybe she's lost a few toes already. Or is dead. She could be under any of those piles of snow at the roadside. You'd never notice, would you? Your voice of pussying-out speaks, deep inside you. You really shouldn't exert yourself like this in the middle of the night. You shush it and concentrate on driving again.

Speaking of which, the road's getting worse by the second. You didn't think it would get this bad, it had seemed like a calm day. Now you are actually plowing your way through the snow at times. It seems like there has been some time since the last snowplow has gone through here. Hopefully it wont damage the under build, or rip a piece out of your front fender for that matter.

As your brain wonders about what would win- a block of snow-ice or your bumper- your eyes pick up less and less. Your wipers seem to only push around the snow now, and there is more and more flying straight towards you. You actually lean over the steering wheel in an effort to get closer to the action out there and make anything out. The visibility seems to be down to about twenty meters. You squint while slowly taking your foot off the gas.

Too slowly.

Too late.

Too late you notice that there suddenly is no guardrail next to you anymore. Too late your body registers the missing feeling of smooth asphalt, the stomach-floating nothingness of falling through the air half a meter, the heavy impact dampened by the shock absorbers, the sudden roughness of the underground. Too slowly your brain processes this information.

As you finally realize what's going on, you've already carved a massive tear right through the field of snow you've just driven into. You slam on the brakes in an effort to stop the car, again, a little late. You notice something again: the ground seems to be frozen. Frozen over, that is, not frozen solid. Like an ice rink. The cars stern breaks out, and you turn around again and again, skidding across the field. Where in summer crops would grow, there goes cruising a madman now.

After way to much time, you finally come to a stop. Your adrenaline is going berserk and you can only do so much to keep yourself together and to stop yourself from screaming or running outside. You breathe. Breathe, dude. Gonna need that oxygen. The music is still annoyingly blaring out of the speakers. You hit the switch.

Stop all sounds. Breathe.

As you look ahead, you see lights rushing by. It seems as if your drifting and turning has left you facing the road, exactly opposite of how you got here. You try to piece together what happened.

First everything was normal. Then I was airborne. But how? A look to the front shows, there is a curve right there where you flew out, and you seem to have missed it in the snow, simply overlooked it. You are happy that there was no guardrail at the point you flew out, otherwise you would have a face full of airbag now. Looking again, you notice something weird. There is guardrail to the left of where you made your dynamic entry, and to the right too. You can see where it was because of the chasm in the snow and shrubbery you left. But your engine is still running, not punched right into the passenger room. You did not have a collision with it. This car isn't solid enough to dismantle a guardrail and stay in one piece anyway. Where is the guardrail?

Looking again, you spot it a little to the side of the hole, broken and bent out of shape. A little further, you spot the reason for its sorry state.

The car is completely trashed, so much you can even see on this distance. There are bits all over the place, in the path it cut through the snow, ahead of the car and all around it. You can't see any people around though, not through all the snow. The build of the car is completely unrecognizable, the way it was smashed. The only characteristic you can definitely spot in the twisted metal salad ahead of you...

...are flickering, dieing, green neon lights, illuminating the wreckage from below.

The hoppers. Damn.

You have to help them. There is no ambulance around, and it doesn't look like anyone that was in that crash would be coherent enough to call one. But first, check out the wreckage. Maybe you have to do first aid. You did do an advanced first aid course with lots of weird extras as part of your civilian service anyway, might as well put that to use. You pull your feet up to get out and-

-bump against something metallic. You look down and spot a gray metal toolbox with the words “DO IT YOURSELF, FAGGOT” painted on the top in black permanent marker. The last owner must have had a funny sense of humor. You wonder how it got there though. It must have slid out from under your seat during your drifting maneuver. Out of curiosity, there could be something useful in there for your rescue mission after all, you flick it open. Inside is a jack, a tire iron (one of these angled ones) and a few loose screws and rags, smeared in motor oil. You think about the possibility of using the jack as a makeshift power-klaw to force a stuck car door open, but dismiss it. Lifting your feet over the box, you turn your head upwards to open the door and

HOLY SHIT WHO IS THERE WHAT THE FUCKETY

There is someone there. Standing in the snow, right where you carved your path. And he, or she, is just standing there. Standing there, unmoving, unflinching in the snow and cold. Come to think of it, the wind and snow seems to be coming from that person. The snow around the shade out there just... blows away. Suddenly, the guy over there moves.

And in an instant, you are very, very sure that this, this, abomination definitely isn't human.

The thing turns to the side slightly. Following its line of sight, it seems to be looking at the crashed car now. But that is not what gets your attention. No, what has caught your attention are the huge spikes that come out of the back of the creature. A meter long and very pointy. At least five, if not more, just growing there. You didn't notice them before because they do not fan out but point straight back and also up, but now, with the monster turned, you see everything. It had looked more or less humanoid before, enough to mistake it for a grown man or something similar, but you didn't see much anyway. It was dark. It is dark.

You need to see more. But why is it so dark? Why do you only see the silhouette? A hunch, followed by a look towards you dashboard shows: somewhere in that ordeal of a crash, you must have bumped against the power switch for the headlights. You flick it upwards. And regret.

The thing out there... it is ice. It looks what a frozen humanoid snake would look like, the scales made of white material you think to be snow and ice. Overlapping, criss-crossing, it looks strangely natural, like it was normal for such creatures to exist. Like evolution did its job again and made an ice monster just like that. Its lower jaw is totally oversized, like with the orks from W40k, and stalagmite-like teeth spike upwards out of it.

There are no eyes.

Its hands are like a mix of a humans' and crab pincers, five-fingered but each finger as thick as your lower arm. The arms are somewhat fitting, but weirdly sized, the thickest at the hands, then gradually getting thinner upwards. Its legs look more or less human, of course again with a coat of ice.

The moment the light hits its face, the thing flinches and tries to cover it with one of its hands.
You hear an unnatural growl.
Your hands are on the power switch again and you flick the light off as fast as you can.
The thing lowers its arm and growls again. It sounds... calmer.

WHAT. THE. FUCK. Your mind is racing. What is that? How did it get here? Was that really an ice monster? Why the fuck is this happening to me? Am I really actually considering that that thing was made of ice? This is reality, goddammit! This isn't one of those sci-fi-fantasy games that I like to play! This Is REALITY! Yeah, right! That thing is just a punk in a funny suit that likes to scare people!

…who crashed. Whom he had no idea that they were going to crash. Who would ignore a bunch of wounded people in a car five meters away just to make a stupid joke.

Something's not adding up here.

Any further consideration of this conundrum is cut short when the thing/asshole over there leans forward, opens its maw, and unleashes a mighty roar that makes various parts inside your car clatter with the vibrations.

Either this fella hid a very good, very small megaphone somewhere around here, or you are in big trouble.

The thing takes a step forward, towards you. You jump a little and squeeze yourself into the seat, further away from it. Suddenly you remember something. What happened to the little girl? You whirl around. On the backseat, Daiyousei squirms a little and mumbles something about “...just five more minutes Cirno...” Damn, girl, you know what nerves are.

You look to the front again. The thing takes another menacing step forward.

I have to do... something.

Your eyes wander to the ignition, then to the gas pedal. Then, you look at the toolbox between your legs and you think of the tire iron. A moment later, you're looking at the switch for the fog lights and the horn. Lastly, you fix yourself on the thing outside. It keeps stomping towards you. Your heart races. You fidget around with the steering wheel.

I stand corrected: this is the worst night of my life. This really went south fast, didn't it?

-[ ] Roadkill.
-[ ] Highwayman.
-[ ] Flashbang.
-[ ] Negotiation.

-[ ] Wake Daiyousei
-[ ] Do not wake Daiyousei.

I am very unsure whether this chapter keeps up any pretenses of quality or not. Feedback please, along with your vote.

[x] Flashbang.

[x] Wake Daiyousei

-[X] Negotiation.
-[X] Do not wake Daiyousei.

Seems like the best possible choice given the situation.

[x] Highwayman.
-[x] Do not wake up Daiyousei

I am working under the assumption this is our run-away option. If it isn't, that's cool too.

>Roadkill
Won't be able to build up enough traction and speed to seriously hurt that thing.

>Flashbang
Loud, and bright. Do not want to wake up Daiyousei.

>Negotiation
You kidding me?

Just before you take your metaphorical feet in your collective mouths (or get your sorry MC ass killed), this was not supposed to be a mystery vote scenario. I was working off the assumption that the options were fairly clear.

>Your eyes wander to the ignition, then to the gas pedal. Then, you look at the toolbox between your legs and you think of the tire iron. A moment later, you're looking at the switch for the fog lights and the horn. Lastly, you fix yourself on the thing outside.

In that order. I hope I don't have to spell it out for you. Reference goes here: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Highwayman%27s_Friend

Also, the post picture is a fairly accurate depiction of the situation. The only way out... is through. You only managed to get through all the shrubbery because of your momentum. Won't work a second time.

[x] Flashbang.
[x] Wake Daiyousei

>The moment the light hits its face, the thing flinches and tries to cover it with one of its hands.

It doesn't like light and it seems like the only viable option anyway. >>25673 seems right about roadkill, going out to hit him... Well, I don't think our chances are nice and negotation is just asking to die.

-[X] Negotiation.
-[X] Wake Daiyousei.
You guys fuckin' kidding me? The thing hasnt even done anything to us but roar. Hell, There was no hinting about any form of anger in it ASIDE from that roar, which for all we know is saying 'leave me alone' or some crap like that.
Buncha pussies.

[x] Flashbang.
[x] Wake Daiyousei

[X] Flashbang
[X] Wake Daiyousei

[x] Flashbang.
[x] Wake Daiyousei

In case we need to leave in a hurry, we'd want her to be awake.

If it's stupid, like a bear or some other large animal, it can't differentiate a bunch of harmless, terrified people in a vehicle from one giant, bright, and loud armored monstrosity.

[x] Flashbang
-[x] Don't wake up Daiyousei.

[X] Highwayman wooo!
[X] Wake Daiyousei

-[X] Negotiation.
-[x] Wake lil' D.

[x] Flashbang.
[x] Wake Daiyousei

[x] Flashbang
-[x] Wake Daiyousei.

There is no way this thing is human. You may not know what exactly it is, but it didn't look like it wanted to talk. The skin, ice or whatever it was covered in also looked a little too realistic to just be plastic and paint. And the way it takes its time walking towards you just reminds you a little too much of a hunter approaching a crippled animal of prey. This could easily be the most dangerous situation you have ever faced, and you will not take it lightly. This thing has to go.

The thing still steadily makes its way towards you. It's only about thirty-five meters away now.

But the way outside is blocked. The frozen and snow-covered bushes all around you look very unyielding to any attempt to drive through them. You can bet your sweet new car that you've already gained a few nice big scratches somewhere on the paintjob. This is not good for your temper. A monster ahead, and damage to your ride? Anger and fear are fighting for dominance, but it seems like fear is still king in the ring, the way your fingers are clamped around the steering wheel and your arms fully extended to squeeze you deeper into the driver's seat.

Concluding the point on the shrubbery, the only way is through the path you've already dug. There is just a tiny little ice-monster in the way. You consider running it over, but you don't think you can gain enough traction on the frozen ground to speed up properly and crush the abomination to serviceable chunks. Alternatively, you fear for the car again. Would the partially plastic front survive? A little voice in the back of your head tells you it's weird to have concerns like that when you're about to get eaten by a malevolent ice cube. A few other voices tell you 'KILL CRUSH MAIM GRRRIND', some others are mumbling about 'maybe it just wants to talk' and others are screaming for a fast getaway. You ditch them all.

This thing... is not human. Anything not human is dumb. Nothing is as smart as humans. I'll just trick the bastard. He'll never know.

You put your left hand on the middle of the steering wheel and your right on the key in the ignition. You take a deep breath, eyes fixed on the looming threat outside.

Alright. Fumbling around wont do anything. Lets get started.

You twist the key.

The engine roars to life.

Well, not really roars, more like a displeased rumble, but it's still enough to make the ice block stop in its tracks, growl confusedly, and get its hands up into a defensive position.

Ha. Surprise, surprise, sucker. But I won't stop here. You flick on the headlights. The effect is as expected, the thing leans back again, covering its face. It growls louder than before. You put the gear into D. Thank god for automatics. You don't hesitate. You almost floor the gas pedal, making the engine roar up, loudly this time. The thing risks a peek across its fingers over to you, as your car jumps a short distance forward, the crushed plant life underneath giving you surprising traction on the ice.

The ice monster inches backwards, growling in frustration. Seems like you're making a good impression. You're gonna learn who's the boss! Growl some more! Stepping on the gas again and again, you move forward, push by push. The thing keeps moving away.

Suddenly, you feel a hand on your shoulder and nearly jump out of the seat. You're off the gas immediately, and whirl around. There sits, sleepily rubbing the sand out of her eyes, tiny tiny Daiyousei. The blanket has slid off her again, and she just turns over to you, barely getting her eyes open, and mumbles: “Mister, have you found Cirno yet? I'm tired, why is it so loud?”

You snap your head over to the monster. It has stopped retreating as soon as you stopped advancing. It seems to have gotten over it's fear of light now, looks like it was just accustomed to the dark and is now looking absolutely pissed off. Its giant hands are opening and closing, it's leaning over forward and it's body moves up and down with its heavy breathing. There are twin-streams of breath coming out of its mouth. That's some funny anatomy. It seems to pause for a moment, you can feel the aggressiveness radiating off the thing. You probably have scant seconds before the inevitable charge. You turn back to Daiyousei.

“Mister's handling some problems right now, little one. You better keep your head down.” That's all you say before you take her by the shoulder and push her down onto the backseat, maybe a little too forcefully. You look forwards again and have just enough time to put your hand back onto the steering wheel before the thing lets out another bloodcurdling roar and starts sprinting towards you.

Something, your survival instinct maybe, clicks inside your head. It's now or never, you think.

“It's now or never! you scream.

You slam your foot down onto the pedal. The wheels spin up, grinding away at the ice on the branches and sticks of wood underneath them. The monster keeps speeding towards you. With a squeak of stressed rubber, your car gains traction and jumps forward, the rear wheels spraying snow and ice everywhere. You rip open your mouth and bellow your defiance to the monster, mirroring the ice block running towards your car. Unknown to you, Daiyousei has risen again, looking outside with big eyes and flinching at your screams. As you gain speed, finally going faster than the monster and still accelerating, you think back to what you thought about still on the road.

Ice block or bumper... who will prevail?

You get your answer soon enough. With a massive slam the thing impacts with the front of your car, splintering ice bits everywhere over your windshield. You jerk forward and push yourself back immediately, looking outside and at the monster again. Its midsection looks pretty broken, some sort of weird blue-white fabric like thing underneath. Maybe that is what these things are made of, Ice-Cotton? It seems to be stunned by the crash. You haven't lost much speed from the impact, and the thing's legs seem to be grinding against the frozen ground. It slowly, steadily slides down your engine hood.

After a moment, it regains composure though. It puts it's claws to use, both of them, tearing long scratches into your cars paint. To no avail though. Here, metal triumphs over ice. It keeps getting dragged against the ground howling, and with a sudden jerk, whips backwards and vanishes under your car.

For a very, very short moment there is silence.

Then you fly forward, held back by your seat belt. You hear a loud squeak, the noise of many metal connections straining at the same time, and come to an abrupt halt. A fleshy thump to the right of you, though you do not notice much. You're too busy trying to regain your breath that the arrested belt has knocked out of you.

As you raise your head, you notice three things in short succession. First, your foot is still on the gas pedal. Second, you are not moving forward anymore. Third, there is a very green thing right next to you. Looking more closely at it, you notice that it's Daiyousei. You wonder how she got here so fast from the back. Maybe she can fly? Your beliefs in reality have been thoroughly weakened in the last ten minutes. Something bugs you though. Green? Something about green... She groggily pushes herself upward and holds her head with one hand. You mentally acknowledge that she is in more or less one piece and turn around to look outside. The thing is nowhere to be seen.

A metal clang, followed by the car jerking upwards gives you a rough idea where the cold monster is hiding.

You take your foot off the gas. You're stuck. After a few moments of cooling down, your brain begins working again.

[ ] Reverse gear.
[ ] Head out, try to talk
[ ] Head out, bring the tire iron.
When you do head out, then you..
[ ] Tell Daiyousei to hide on the back seat.
[ ] Tell her to stay close to you.

Side option: [ ] The thing scratched your car. Your car. Your. New. Car. ROAD RAGE. (you will be foaming-at-the-mouth furious, this is a character development perk and will affect the rest of the story quite a bit.)

As always, [ ] Write-in.

---------------

Never make me write long updates again. Ever. This fucks my writing skills. This was originally about twice as long, and it totally screwed any semblance of CYOA-like storytelling.

[x] Head out, bring the tire iron.
-[x] Tell her to stay close to you.

Impact with the car barely dented this thing, and it is now in a superior position to fuck us over. We don't have the means to take this thing out, so we need to get out of here, we need to run far, far away. We shouldn't leave ourselves defenseless though, so taking the tire iron is a good idea.

[x] Head out, bring the tire iron. Attempt to talk, If not, Beat down.
[x] Keep Dai with you.

I'd advise again making the side option myself, as at first glance it'll turn our character into a beast fueled by rage. Which is not good.

>weird blue-white fabric like thing underneath

...What?!

>>25721
>blue-white fabric
>ice

You should be able to figure this out. I've been under the suspicion that this thing was Cirno the whole time.

>>25722
Wasn't too sure with ice, but I do know it's her now. But what the hell happened to her?

[x] Head out, bring the tire iron. Attempt to talk, If not, Beat down.
[x] Keep Dai with you.

When I think talk with this, I suppose it's more like an intimidation attempt. We just tried to ram it, it wouldn't be logical to try to make peace NOW.

>>25722
If it was Cirno, MC wouldn't view her as a 'beast', And the fact that Cirno announces her presences as loudly as possible. Probably something along the lines of "EYE'M DA STRONGEST" or some shit like that. I doubt she'd just stand there, looking mean.

If anything, I think the beast got a nibble on cirno or something. But again, I doubt its her, Unless she accidently encased herself in ice.

>>25724
>Probably something along the lines of "EYE'M DA STRONGEST"

Why don't you just quit while your behind, before you dig yourself an even deeper hole.

[x] Head out, bring the tire iron. Attempt to talk, If not, Beat down.
[x] Keep Dai with you.

[X] Head out, bring the tire iron. Attempt to talk, If not, Beat down.
[X] Keep Dai with you.

>>25725
>Your
heh.

[x] Reverse

[x] Head out, bring the tire iron. Attempt to talk; if not, beat down.
[x] Keep Dai with you...
-[x] wrapped in the blanket.

It's still freezing, and she has no winter clothing. It's no good to drag her out of the car unless she remains lucid.

[x] Head out, bring the tire iron, real man don't need words.
[x] Tell D to stand close to you

[X] Head out, bring the tire iron. Attempt to talk. If not, beat down.
[X] Keep Dai with you.

If it is Cirno, then we finally found her. But if it's not...

[X] Head out, bring the tire iron. Attempt to talk. If not, beat down.
[X] Keep Dai with you.

If it is Cirno, then we finally found her. But if it's not...

>>25739
Don't do that. With a vote like that, nobody can tell if it's the same person trying to vote twice, or just an incredibly lazy idiot copy-pasteing. Either way, you waste everyone's time by making them determine which is is.

>>25740
Prolly the same anon repeating his post. Not that it would really change the tides at all seeing as how thats the majority vote anyways

>>25741
Why the fuck would he do that anyway? If those votes counted for the other option, and then were multiplied by 2, that other option would still win! I can't think of any logical reason, really. Oh well, it's not like it really matters.

By the way, please use sage for non-vote posts. To avoid getting people's hopes up for nothing, you see.

>>25740
>>25741
>>25742
Woah, guys it wasn't me. I posted my vote on the sixteenth, yesterday. They posted there's today. Why the hell would I double post anyway?

>>25742
Everytime I try to sage, it doesnt go through for some god-forsaken reason. Fuck Firefox.

>>25743
Because baseless assumptions are the only good kind.

>>25743
It was me. Sorry. Objection Noted, will correct in future.

[X] Head out, bring the tire iron. Attempt to talk, If not, Beat down.
[X] Keep Dai with you.

You think. At least, you try to. The immense amount of adrenaline in your blood is not helping in the slightest. A second later, you come to a conclusion.

Alright, so this thing is either stuck to my under build and blocks my gearbox or something or it's actually holding the car back somehow. Ergo, either I get the thing off my car or I have to leg it as soon as possible and leave this beauty behind.

You think back at how fast the thing ran. You think of its hands, those grasping, sharp, gigantic hands. Of its roar. Of the teeth. You also think of the massive snowstorm raging outside, and the fact that the monster both probably isn't hindered by it and you have to drag along a little girl.

I have to get this fucker off my car.

So your eyes wander down to the toolbox between your feet. You remember the only thing in this car that could be called a weapon. You flick the box open. There lays the tire iron, your lord and savior. You take it in a firm grasp in one hand and lift it out while flicking the toolbox shut with the other. “Uh, mister?” You turn to the side. You almost forgot about Dai in your brain-wrecking stupor. She still sits there, confused and somewhat frightened. What to do with her? “What are you going to do with that?” Her eyes seem to jump around between your face and the tool.

One one side, leaving her inside the car would be relatively safe. On the other, when the thing turns out to be tougher than you expected, you cannot run away without leaving her to be viciously- yeah you don't wanna go there. So the safest option would be for her to stay with you. If things get bad, at least you can defend her, even if a cynical, tiny part of you telly you that you will phail hilariously and make yourself an idiot a few seconds before your demise.

You brush the voice aside and sign it off to tiredness. Then, you tell Dai: “Mister's not jet done with solving problems, little one.” Lifting up your impromptu weapon and drawing small circles with it into the air, you continue: “Stick to me,okay? Better not get caught alone with the monster.”

Her eyes widen at the implications, and she almost bumps into the ceiling as she tries to climb over the stick over to you. You smirk and open the door. A cold blast of winter air and snow greets you, along with the howling wind. You pull your tight-fitting dark beanie further over your forehead as you clamber out of the seat. The snow crunches under your boots. You turn towards the back of the car while Dai gets out behind you, still wrapped in the blanket. She pulls it up to her neck, shivering in the wind. You don't notice. You are fixed on the rear, your fingers gripping the cooling metal as hard as they can. You move forward.

As you round the edge, ducked and tire iron lifted over your shoulder, you spot the ice monster. You immediately shrink back a bit to analyze the situation better. The thing back is turned to you while it kneels in the snow. It has buried one of it's hands into the ground, and it looks as if there is more ice forming around the already frozen limb, embedding it into the earth. Its other arm is somewhere below the rear bumper of your car. You suspect that that one is probably doing the same ice-collection thing as the other. As long as this thing is around and holding onto your car, you're not going anywhere.

Pulling all your willpower together, you step out of your cover and close in to the monster. You hope to step closer to it and bash it over the head before it notices you, its face being turned towards the ground, head hanging. Its midsection still looks pretty busted up, threads and patches of that cotton stuff hanging down into the snow, scabbed over with fresh ice. It seems to be... regenerating. You silently put one foot in front of the other as you sneak closer, hoping that the howling wind covers up the creak of the snow.

Then comes the moment where you step on a twig, hidden under the snow. Murphy, I hate you. The dry crack rings out like the boom of a cannon in your ears.

The ice monster jerks its head upwards, tilting it to the side. Then, it turns its head, peeking over its shoulder. The moment it spots you, it seems to... jump? Startle? As if a human was what it never expected. It violently jerks around on its now even larger fists, trying to free itself from the restrictive growths of ice. Two loud cracks later, the ice blocks are torn off at the wrists, and for a moment, you think that you spy skin, a tiny set of hands. The jagged stumps are soon replaced with pointy ice-lances, spiking forward. As soon as it is free, the thing whips around and locks its gaze with yours, you staring into the flat expanse where its eyes are supposed to be, it mirroring you. It's very twitchy, slightly hunched over, completely different from how it had looked earlier.

It seems to be waiting for something. It also seems to be scared. You decide to take action. When it doesn't want to fight, maybe it can be... coerced into leaving? It looks surprisingly weak at the moment.

“Hey Iceman!” you yell, as loud as you can manage. The thing visibly jerks. “I don't want to fight you, and I think you know that you won't win a fight against me, so how about you just leave me and my little passenger here alone and go your own path? If I have to pick crushed ice out of my clothing all damn day because of you I will be very angry, and we wouldn't want that,” you take a stomp forward, the thing takes a step back, “...would we?”

It seems to consider what you said, the way it turns its head to the side and tries to scratch its head with its ice-spikes now. It seems about to do something, maybe nod, maybe lunge, when Dai walks out from behind the car, a fearful look in her eyes. She has watched the exchange up until now out of her cover, and seemed to get so scared now that she needed someone bigger to hold onto. This bigger person is you. The monster's reaction is instantaneous; it immediately walks forward, spreading its arms out, moaning something. You can almost make it out, but it's too distorted. It looks like out monster can speak. No wonder actually, given how it seemed to understand you perfectly when you delivered your death-threats. This does nothing to calm you, however. Your eyes go wide, along with Daiyousei's, as the thing trudges forward, looking like it's about to deliver a spiky cold crush-hug.

There is no time left. You lift the tire iron high over your head, preparing to bring it down in a crushing swipe to take off one of the monster's arms...

… as the little roadside pickup, after a moment of horrified stun, screws her eyes shut and lets out the loudest shriek you've ever heard. She then goes on to lift her left hand up to her face, covering one with the other, and stretches the other arm all the way out, spreading her fingers and pointing her palm towards the monster. For a moment, you wonder what is going on. The next, you literally see a hazy glow forming in front of her hand, gathering together out of thin air, slowly, at least for your adrenaline-fueled brain, clumping together to one single, green ball of light. The screech goes on and on, and the very moment it ends and you hear the echo in your ears run out...

A tiny flash. And the energy pellet moves forward.

Given that Dai was standing some distance behind you, the thing first moves towards you. In the artificial bullet-time that your brain induced, you can see the ball dig through the snow-filled air like a battleship through the high seas. The details are amazing. Leaving behind a simmering stream of hot air, it makes the single snowflakes in its way hiss and pop away like nothing. It keeps making it's way forward, streaking past your face only half an arm's length away; you can feel the heat it radiates on your cheeks, burning hot. Turning your head, feeling as if you're swimming through the air, you follow it's trajectory, although you can already guess where it's going. It makes it's way towards the monster agonizingly slowly, the thing rearing back, trying to scurry away, but to no avail, the bullet is faster.

A microsecond before the impact square into the iceblock's chest, something you learned a long time ago pops into your head.

Remember, children: when there is a fire in the kitchen, and it's in the deep fryer or anything that uses oil, never, and I repeat, NEVER, put water on it. When you want it put out, use a proper fire extinguisher, or better, just call your parents.

Why? Because, when you put water on hot oil, the water may put it out a little, but what is more important: the water will get very hot, very fast. That is also very, very bad, because hot water turns into steam. Lots and lots of steam. Do you know what they call it when liquid or hard stuff gets turned into lots of gas very fast?

Everyone shook their heads.

They call it an explosion.

These are the last words that go through your head before the blastwave hits you.

---------------

Sorry for the delay. More to come, discuss when you want.

>>25761
So Dai's bullet made the ice-monster/Cirno EXPLODE and may have seriously injured us. Welp.

>>25762
I'm going to assume that Cirno's controlled by something or other. This is just my random speculation though.
[x] Whip it out.
-[x] "Don't worry Dai, I'm a doctor."

owait wrong story

>>25761
Oh boy is Cirno ever going to be mad when she realizes Dai detonated her. And if she blew off the ice armor, Dai will be sad to find that out, too.

Fuck yeah! Dai, you're great!

>One one side, leaving her inside the car would be relatively safe.
>Phail
>“Mister's not jet done with solving problems, little one.”
Waiting warmly for the update, but I suggest getting a proofreader. IRC is a good place for that, if you can put up with its general modus operandum.

didn't mean it like that

like hell you didn't

i would never shoot you for real you know it

why did you then

...

ah really good reason dai

i was scared

i'm not scary

you didn't look like you

i didn't look any different

you were covered in ice

so

so you totally looked different

still doesn't make it ok to shoot me

...

sometimes i want to punch you in the face cirno

so you did do it on purpose!”

Slowly, you come to.

“CIRNO! Can't you, for once, think before you do something?”

You feel woozy, and everything is blurred. That ceiling... yup, you've seen it somewhere. But where?

“I did think before I did that! The humans were shooting big metal bawkses at me, so I made armor from ice! So I wouldn't get beaten!”

Oh... it's your car's ceiling. On a side note, the thing you're lying on is also way too soft and warm to be snow outside. You should have noticed earlier.

“First, those aren't weapons. Those are vehicles! There are living humans in them, and you're sitting in one right now! Second, didn't you say you'd do ahead and get help? How are you going to get help from the humans if you're covered in ice and scaring everyone? That's just stupid!”

“Don't call me stupid!”

“But you are!”

The skff of fabric getting grabbed. You move a hand up to your face. On close inspection, you notice that you still have all four fingers. And the thumb, that is. The other hand looks pretty much the same. The noise of clothing being ruffled and some meaty sounds, like someone being shaken.

“Damn, Cirno, what were you thinking!

Creaking, like when you ripped open that boys shirt in school once. The noise from the right is kind of annoying though. Who's having a discussion in your car? Come to think of it, why are you in your car?

“...you've almost got you and him killed!”

Some sniffles. The last thing you remember is lifting your tire iron to take a swing at that ice monster when suddenly Dai shot a energy pellet at it. You notice that your legs are stuffed under your body. It is fairly uncomfortable.

“...I'm not stupid...” someone mumbles. The sliding of skin on fabric. Someone scoffs. “...sure, fine.” says the other voice. She sounds suspiciously like Daiyousei. As you think more about it, it is Daiyousei. Who shot an energy pellet... somethin's not addin' up here...

Oh. Yeah. She shot an energy pellet. That's what's wrong. Or... is it? You honestly don't know. A little voice at the back of your head suddenly gets very loud. WHAT THE FUCK MAN OF COURSE IT'S FRIGGIN WRONG WHAT IS GOING ON WHY HAVE YOU BEEN SO FUGGIN APATHETIC FOR THE LAST FIVE HOURSclick and now you are really sure that something is very wrong about shooting energy pellets out of one's hands. You are confused. Just what were they talking about now?

“...why are you together with a human anyway? You've told me that I should stay away from them. For 'shtelf' you said. Whatever that was.”

Did she just... differentiate herself from humans? Why would she have to stay away from... them? Us? You are confuseder, if that is even a word. You have hunches that it isn't but your brain is still grinding around unproductively.

“It's 'stealth', Nineball. It means not being noticed. And he didn't know I was a fairy. Until you ruined it.”

You almost jump at this, but manage to keep yourself under control.

“I just wanted to hug you hello! I didn't do anything bad!”

“Wrong, Cirno, you didn't mean anything bad. What happened was bad. Sometimes things don't go the way you want them to go.”

Dai had said that a Cirno is her sister, but you don't remember letting her into your car. What is going on? Out of what hole did she jump out of? Come to think of it, where has the ice monster gone? Did Daiyousei kill it with that... thing? But what- oh. Yeah, that explosion, hmm.

“B...b...but Dai!”

When it was strong enough to knock you out on like seven meters distance then you do not want to know what happened to Mr. Freeze, although you can guess.

A sigh.

“It's alright, Cirno, it's alright... come here.”

More fabric ruffling. You suppose it's a hug. A moment of silence.

“...and you're supposed to be my bigger sister...” Dai mumbles.

This raises more questions than it answers. So she's found her sister. So she didn't lie. Oh wait, she did. Either now or back then, what was that about fairy?

You've thought about this kind of thing before. You meet an alien, see the proof, even if its vague, what do you do etc. etc.. All those internet discussions had to be good for something, and you don't mean your e-peen or bragging rights. You don't want to get caught up in the moving gears of time and ground to fine paste. Adapt, and fast. The ice man from before did weaken your grasp on reality somewhat and did put the seed of paranoia into you. What else could be out there? Did this shit just get real? Or was it all along?

You thought it was bad. It just keeps getting worse. Hey, that would make a good movie tag line. At least your snark/humor center still works.

“Well!” comes from the front seat. Daiyousei seems strangely giddy now, after how sad she just sounded. ”What do we learn out of this, Cirno? Come on, do the routine.”

This sounds intriguing.

“Umm...”goes the other girl, Cirno, sister, whatever. Didn't the Japanese call those onee-san or such? GRR BRAIN, stay on track dammit. But they did speak in your language just now. Why would they do that when no one's around to understand? Or at least, when they think so?

“I... shouldn't attack anything?” She shakily manages. Alright girl, if someone still has to teach you that then you're in trouble.

“That's a good start, Cirno, but there's more.” Dai seems slightly unsatisfied. She probably shared your thought process.

“Uuh... humans sometimes can help you, even in evil places like the outside?” This really gives your gray matter something to chew on. Outside? Again, she's... not human? And why is here evil? The Nuremberg Trials have been over for some time now.

“Yes Cirno, that's right too. As long as they don't notice anything odd about you, they're really nice, usually. They get you around and tell you things and help you. For us small fairies, that's both easy and useful. But there's still more.”

So they actually call themselves fairies, you didn't mishear her. Fair enough. You'll just wait and see.

“NnngNNh...” Damn. It almost sounds like some sort of old computer trying to run a next-generation game, grinding the hard drive. “Eeeh... Ice Armor is bad?”

wait wut

“Exactly, Cirno! It makes the humans notice you, it shows them that you're not human and it scares them, so they'll fight you or get other humans for help. And that's bad.”

Waitaminute. She... SHE was the ice monster? The owner of the cutesy little voice coming from the front seat is the ice monster? You ran over... a kid? A girl? And then threatened her, ans then gotten ready to rip/tear her arm off with your tire iron? If you could make ragefaces, you would now. Aw hell naw, my guy cred is sinking into the basement. I ran over... Cheery McPipsqueak. Well wonderful. But maybe I can savage something? She didn't look like a girl, anyway.

“Bah, like they could beat me! I'm the strongest of them all!” You hear a creak of metal springs and a very loud metallic bang directly after it. “...ow.” “Cirno, there is a roof, you know. Not good for dramatic poses.” It really sounds like she isn't the coldest ice cube in the freezer.

“Mh, anyway, what do we do now? The guy is still out, and I don't know what to do with him. He helped you, but he hurt me.”

“That's a good question, Cirno. Give me a minute.”

Oh no. Cirno may give her one, but you sure as hell won't.

You introduce yourself...
[ ] Like Jason, loudly. (BOO MUTHERFUCKERS) (you keep the pressure up the entire time)
[ ] Like Pierce Brosnan. No, wait. Sean Connery. ('Oh, that's cold of you, ladies. Pun not intended.')
[ ] Like Shirou the clueless. Pretending to be, at least. ('Oh my god, what happened? I totally NOT know what's going on just now.')
[ ] Like... oh well. You choose it yourself, bugger.

Then, after introducing yourself, you push the conversation on like...
[ ] like an unusually composed ork. (ME HURT. ME PISSED.)
[ ] like average Joe. (I don't want any trouble out of this.)
[ ] like a bleeding heart Medic. (You've got problems? I'll just dive right into it and solve them.)
[ ] Keep choosing yourself, maybe I'll accept it.

Thanks to Kiri for proofreading. This one wasn't so hard, but I had to force me to write with Heavy Metal, such was my laziness.

As always, the more opinions and c&c I get the better the story will be. Thank you in advance.

>bawkses
>"shtelf"
>Nineball
>wut

If you cannot possibly find any other manner of informing us that Cirno is a bit dim than using misspelled words, or directly calling her a Nineball (which, by the way, is utterly retarded,) than you should stop while you are ahead and just quit writing.

[x] Like Shirou the clueless. Pretending to be, at least.
[x] like a bleeding heart Medic. (You've got problems? I'll just dive right into it and solve them.)

>You are confuseder, if that is even a word.
>It really sounds like she isn't the coldest ice cube in the freezer.
Yes, I think it's safe to think like this.

Introduce yourself as...
[x] Neo (acknowledge everything, accept everything; you've always suspected that there was something else.) "Woah"
Push the conversation like...
[x] Bleeding heart medic (You've got problems? I'll just dive right into it and solve them)

You introduce yourself...
[X] Like Jason, loudly. (BOO MUTHERFUCKERS) (you keep the pressure up the entire time)
Then, after introducing yourself, you push the conversation on...
[X] like average Joe. (I don't want any trouble out of this.)

I see no possible way this can backfire.

[x] Neo (acknowledge everything, accept everything; you've always suspected that there was something else.) "Woah"
Push the conversation like...
[x]We are confused. What was this about "fairy's" and the "outside world"?

[x] Like Shirou the clueless. Pretending to be, at least.
[x] like a bleeding heart Medic. (You've got problems? I'll just dive right into it and solve them.)

[x] Like Shirou the clueless. Pretending to be, at least.
[x] like a bleeding heart Medic. (You've got problems? I'll just dive right into it and solve them.)

>>25829
Don't forget
>If you could make ragefaces

Knock it off.

[X] Like Pierce Brosnan. No, wait. Sean Connery.
[X] like a bleeding heart Medic.

There's an option to act like Sean Connery and nobody is voting for it? Uncultured anons. Then again, considering that this writefag thinks throwing memes around is a-OK, I should have expected this. Resist that urge to put memes in a story, or /blue/ will come after you.

[x] Like Pierce Brosnan. No, wait. Sean Connery.
[x] Like your average joe.

>Second, didn't you say you'd do ahead and get help?
>do
>“Damn, Cirno, what were you thinking!
>no ? or ”
>“...you've almost got you and him killed!”
So, Kiri proofed for you? Might want to get a second opinion next time.
>Creaking, like when you ripped open that boys shirt in school once.
I always thought clothes tore or shredded, and old wood floors creaked.

On a more discussion-related note,
>WHAT THE FUCK MAN OF COURSE IT'S FRIGGIN WRONG WHAT IS GOING ON WHY HAVE YOU BEEN SO FUGGIN APATHETIC FOR THE LAST FIVE HOURSclick and now you are really sure that something is very wrong.
Is Yukari fooling with our head, or is it the fairies? I'm thinking the latter, since Dai stated humans are helpful when we don't know they're fairies. And how soon will we resume normal brain operation? The adrenaline-rush time dilation and our current brain-damaged state are rather grating.

[x] Like Shirou the clueless. Pretending to be, at least.
[x]We are confused. What was this about "fairy's" and the "outside world"?

Fairies and Ice Armor? You've lost me.

[x]>>25833
Lazy

>So, Kiri proofed for you? Might want to get a second opinion next time.

Yeah. I told him he will need a second opinion regarding grammar. You guys know how Engrish I can be. I can only spot the ultra-obvious typos at most.

And you know what? I already told him about those grammar errors you pointed out. Not my fault he decides to leave it be.

>>25847

By the way kirin, how's your story coming along?

>>25847
Well, you did your part. That's all one can do. Also updates! (For both him and you, I mean)

[x] Like Pierce Brosnan. No, wait. Sean Connery. ('Oh, that's cold of you, ladies. Pun not intended.')
[x] like a bleeding heart Medic. (You've got problems? I'll just dive right into it and solve them.)

>Introduce yourself as...
[x] Neo (acknowledge everything, accept everything; you've always suspected that there was something else.) "Woah"
>Push the conversation like...
[x] like a bleeding heart Medic. (You've got problems? I'll just dive right into it and solve them.)

>As always, the more opinions and c&c I get the better the story will be. Thank you in advance.

Some people find memes rageworthy and others don't catch the references and so end up confused. In either case it disrupts immersion. If you need to add them, do so covertly, like in the image filename.

Generally, I'd suggest keeping the entire narrative in second person, directly exposed to the narrator's thoughts, rather than to splice in segments where we're told what the character is thinking in first person.

Don't abuse formatting.

Sometimes it's necessary to differentiate the narrator's thoughts from the rest of the internal monologue by using italics, such as if there's an intrusive thought or telepathic communication, but normally, even if the narrator is being especially conversational, it should all be plain text.

Choose either capitalization or boldface for volume emphasis, and it should only be used sparingly. Don't mix the two; be consistent.

Less ellipses, more actual punctuation. Generally, they shouldn't be used outside dialogue where it's sufficient to write, 'A pause.' Ellipses do not somehow make sentence fragments grammatical (though fragments are sometimes necessary), so most of the time it's better to just bite the bullet and use a period.

Thanks to all of you, I'll try to take your criticism at heart.

I will not be able to take up that write-in. No can do folks. Doesn't fit the story. (I doubt you guys would like to read that kind of guy for more then a single update too.)

About the typos and grammar, yes, this was a mistake on my side. I did correct the mistakes he mentioned and posted it that way too, but I noticed a single one that I missed and tried to correct it (by deleting the post and re-posting). Sadly I misposted out of the wrong word file since I have about three versions of this update on my desktop and there you go. I'm still getting used to this writefaggotry business, need to get more organized.

The memes, it's going to be hard for me since I like them so, but I guess I can cut them out if they annoy you so much that it is an eyesore. They are not as important as the story I would like to tell.

>>25864
>I will not be able to take up that write-in. No can do folks. Doesn't fit the story. (I doubt you guys would like to read that kind of guy for more then a single update too.)

I'd like to push the point that as far as I can see, MC can either accept what just happened, decline it, or go into denial about it. Choosing the write-in would just mean the protag is saying 'woah. this shits kinda freaky, but i am okay with it'
The fact that you GAVE a write-in, yet decline it is kinda a douchebag move as well. It's either you have a write-in option, You dont, Or you accept one even if you didnt have the option, Never declining a write-in if it's the majority vote. I'm sad to say, But you're just going to deal with the write-in, writefag.

>But you're just going to deal with the write-in, writefag.

man, I like this sentence more than I should.

>>25866
Because the write-fag writes write-ins with his right hand?

Also sorry if I came off as a prick, But I hope you should understand from here on out that if you arent going to accept any write-in so long as it isnt retarded ([x]Jizz all over Yukaris earlobe), Then you have to take the write-in, or you shouldn't have made a vote for it in the first place.

>>25867
It's a right of the writefag to refuse any write-in he or she thinks wouldn't fit into the story. So stop browbeating the guy before he inadvertently trainwrecks the story trying to go with your write ins or quits out of despair.

Toning down the memes would be a nice move as anon has a history of taking one and running with it like a retard

no write ins? aaww

[x] Like Pierce Brosnan. No, wait. Sean Connery. ('Oh, that's cold of you, ladies. Pun not intended.')
[x] like a bleeding heart Medic. (You've got problems? I'll just dive right into it and solve them.)

>>25867
I suppose we all had some sort of misunderstanding, I thought you meant that I'm supposed to write a Keanu Reeves (doing things like displayed on the left) and you thought I was adverse to the idea that Carnonymous could just up and accept these kinds of things. I'm OK with writing a quick-thinking Arthur Dent like character, but you will not get a Neo out of me. Emotionless is not fun.
I share what you think about the write-ins, but this just ruined it for me. I do not really like those roles KR portrayed and writing one (as the MC no less) would be more or less torture on one side and break character settings I've planned out on the other.

But in any case, the vote is still going on! Till now we have:

The Faker: 4 votes.
The Bond, James Bond: 4 votes.
The Quick Thinker: 3 votes
and The Loudmouth: 1 vote.

Second vote option is more or less for the Medic option, though I would like your ideas on how that one would work out together with The Faker one. Will you fake at first, but mean it sincerely once you've cleared your troubles up, or will you plan to backstab the entire way and use that benevolence as a clever trick?

I'll check back sometime tommorrow and call then.

>>25867
>Then you have to take the write-in, or you shouldn't have made a vote for it in the first place.
Says who?
He's the writer, if he wants to, vetoing write ins because of any reason, including 'I don't feel like writing this.' is perfectly fine.
If you don't like it, there's not much you can do aside from not reading the story and bitching in /blue/.

>>25873
Thank you for reinforcing what has already been said twice. That was really helpful and necessary.

[X] Like Pierce Brosnan. No, wait. Sean Connery.
[X] like a bleeding heart Medic.

>>25874

It's a good thing we have the board brevity police, to make sure nobody ever offers the same opinion on anything.

>>25861 here. Since write-in won't fly, change to:

[x] Like Pierce Brosnan. No, wait. Sean Connery.

>>25876
I agree.

>>25551
>Kick my ass, so I keep writing, would you?
Get back to work, writefag.

[x] Like Pierce Brosnan. No, wait. Sean Connery.
UPDATE
WRITE
DOIT
FAG
GO
T

Called for Connery. No wait, Brosnan.

Yeah sorry folks, this is a bad time right now. Exams are coming up fast, no time for writing.

Maybe next week Wednesday or Thursday, not earlier. I wrote as much as I could in those last two weeks of holidays, but shit is getting real over here now (Also, thinking up Bond-One-Liners and references to liberally pepper the update with is hard). After those though, no problem, it'll just be the typical three weeks before the end of the school year. Lots of time to spare then.

As a little "apology", prepare for a snippet involving two support characters coming up. Start guessing now. (Come on, you can do this, it isn't that hard.)

>>25910
The two Lilies? Also,
>pepper the update with references
you really don't have to do that, just one is fine.

[x] Update like the Fist of the North Star.

I just re-checked most of my notes and storysnippets I wrote on this story and I have to say all I can think about it is pic related. It's like I wrote it while being drunk all the time, and I can't explain how that could be over the course of all that time.

To put it in few words, what I planned out basically consists of 'and then they have a car chase after some touhou or another and then they end up in gensokyo because of magic explosion and then shit happens while in the outside world offscreen villany of the other touhous herp derp doo doo FUUUUUU" and that was the point at which my patience with past-me ran out and I decided to kick the story progress up until now into the trashcan and start over.

To be honest, I went into this unprepared and naive; without heeding the warnings about 'make some flowcharts dammit' but you know, it was less stupid actions due to lack of flowcharts and more not thinking ahead enough on my side.

So this story is on ice for the next few weeks while I work out a proper narrative and make some planning-ahead. Please excuse me for the problems and frustration I've caused.

>>26073
The only problem that I have is that you werent fully prepared for making a story, but this is your first story. However, us anon have only one request.

If you make the remake, make damn fucking sure its good, and not /th/ 'worthy'

>>26073
As a writer myself, I want to warn you, fellow.

Don't be too accurate when planning the story. Or else, you'll grow tired of it, and you'll end up dropping it.
I suggest writing down just the main lines, and to improvise the rest. This way, you'll keep being interested in your story. But don't be annoyed, every writer fail his first story, you're not worse than anyone else just because you failed your first one.
Keep trying, listen to Anon's help, don't hesitate to rewrite an update if you don't like it, and never, NEVER, post something if you're not sure about it. Anon may forgive typos, but he'll never forgive canon errors.

>>26075 here.
One more thing: don't start the next story with the same introduction. There are many reasons for this, but I'll keep it short.
First: Anon hate unsure writefags.
Second: Anon hates when writefag is telling his life.
Third: in the worst case, Anon will hijack the story if he thinks you're too weak.

In short, just start the story, don't explain why you're doing it.

I may be too late, but don't listen to this idiot's advice. >>26075 >>26076 Almost everything he said is backwards or retarded. He writes awful stories and nobody likes him, but he's still somehow convinced he's got this site all figured out.

>>26129
İ more or less make my own advice out of the danmaku-like bulletpoints that are thrown at me whenever İ ask for critique or help. So yeah, will be seen with a grain of salt (but not ignored).

About the story, well, rejoice, because in the last few weeks İ thouroughly worked over the almost nonexistant backstory and am still trying to shoehorn in or more like sandpaper clean a few plottwists in this thing. To your (and my) luck, this means we kan keep the lame events that have happened up until now in the thread. So no restart, only a continuation. Probably next week, when İ am back outside of this threshold country and in front of my sweet quadcore.

Stupid thing about making a story mainly on the outside that İ am running the danger of having a cast out of 40 to 90 percent OC's. For Touhou, this sounds lethal.

>>26131
>Eventual updates
Hooray!

I just started reading; it looks decent so far. As for the write-in problem...

>maybe I'll accept it
Those who rage when ignoring the warning signs are as bad as the fat fucks who try to sue McDonalds for having no restraint when eating.

Well I liked it. Grammar mistakes an all. Voter participation should be about story progression, not about how the author decides to write his characters.

[x] TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN (too much time to be honest)

Daiyousei goes on talking. “...alright, I think it would be best if we just... you know...” You hear her humming. “This is hard. I kinda want to leave him here and go, but he was so nice to me, it seems unfair. And I don't want to go into the snow again, either. That was bad.”

Cirno speaks next. “But we have to do something! We can't let him go and tell the other humans! We still have to go and find the others! Rumia and Wriggle and Mystia! You said that!”

So there are others, huh? And they seem to be just as lost as these here are. Their names seem even more outlandish than the 'sisters''. You use this distraction that the two are making to carefully peel your legs out from under your body and lower them silently into the legroom. Your right arm props you up a little and you are now in the right position to get vertical again.

“Yes, Cirno, I know. I miss them too, you know that. I just hope they are alright. Hmm... “ Daiyousei hums a little more. “...maybe we could do something with magic and make him forget us? That could work, right? Then we just take one of those blankets for me so that I don't freeze and he can go back home on his own after he wakes up. Yeah, that could work!”

You hear rhythmic creaking from the shotgun seat as Cirno bobs up and down. “Yes! Yes! And he won't know a thing! Good idea, Dai!”

You slowly, carefully push yourself upwards, trying not to make a single sound. As you finally manage to look over the passenger's seat, the scene in front of you almost makes you let loose a scream.

In the drivers' seat sits Daiyousei, proudly smiling. That is not directly what unsettles you, but more the way Daiyousei, for lack of a better word, is.

Her hair. It is green.

Not that fake toxic-green that you see so often around the central train station. Her hair looks natural, not like a glued-on mop of plastic like the punks and junkies hanging around there usually sport. Hers look darker, smoother, more real.

The other thing that shocks you is how she never had looked any different. You just hadn't cared or noticed. Somehow, it had just slipped by you.

A look to the right makes your eyes bulge. Sitting shotgun is another girl, looking a tad younger than Dai, in a pretty elaborate blue and white dress. It seems to be way to thin for the season. Even sitting here in the car she should be very cold, you think with a shiver going down your spine. There's also a matching big ribbon in her hair.

But again, that is not what unsettles you. What does is her hair, more specifically its color. It's a very bright ice blue, again looking completely natural. She excitedly bobs up and down on the seat. You suppose that that is the Cirno girl for lack of an alternative.

“...but wait.” They stop bobbing. Dai looks really pensive for a moment. You do your best to hide behind the seat, slowly sliding backwards.

“Can you do that kinda thing?” she asks. “Because I can't.”

“Uuuuh...” you hear from behind the seat. “Nope. I'm only good with ice. Oh! Maybe we can freeze him, like I do with those frogs? Then we can go, and when the ice melts he'll do whatever he wants!”

You know for a fact that being frozen up is not exactly the most healthy way of passing time, otherwise Ötzi the Iceman would probably have been up and ready for storytime about his adventures in the Stone Age when they dug him up. You have to do something. They seem reasonable enough, and what they said about their friends did make you want to help the little girls somewhat. So you decide to go and try the diplomatic approach. You silently raise yourself, the two up front being completely preoccupied with themselves, ignoring you. As you recline yourself against the back seat, the two girls now in plain view to you (and you to them, but they aren't looking).

“Cirno, that only works with the frogs, and I don't think it would be good for humans! Also, it won't make him forget about us and he could still get the other humans in on us!" She's pretty loud all of a sudden.

Cirno just blows a raspberry at Dai and crosses her arms. Turning away, she says "Like you have a better idea! We have to do something, and we got nothing better! So let's just go with that!"

This has gone on for long enough.

"Or maybe you could just ask him to help you."

Dai pipes up at this. "That's not too bad, actually."

"Pah! Thats a stupid idea, Dai!" huffs Cirno, still turned aside.

"Uh, Cirno, that was your idea." says Daiyousei, a bit annoyed.

"No it wasn't!" Cirno shouts, turning back to Dai and holding her palms up in the air.

"Then who..."

They have their sudden realization. Slowly, agonizingly slowly they turn to you. You, who are sitting in the middle of the back seat, with your arms draped over the headrests left and right.

"Hallo there." A wave of your hand.

Their eyes grow to the size of dinnerplates. The silence is deafening.

"AAAAAAAAA-"

The screaming is, too.

"Cirno, no, I to-"

"-AAAAAAAAA-"

"-you he's a nice gu-"

"-AAAAAAAAA-"

"- you can trust him, and would you SHUT UP!"

She does, breathing heavily with her tiny little breaths, all backed up against the windshield, as far away from you as she can.

"He, he he, HE LISTENED IN!" She excitedly waves to Daiyousei. "He knows, Dai! He knows!"

"I guess." Daiyousei just shrugs and shakes her head. She looks at you again. "So!" She straightens herself a little. "How much did you hear?"

"Pretty much everything from when you said that Cirno should think before she acts."

Daiyousei's shoulders sag slightly. "Well, great. I guess you know about us then?"

"Some of the things you said confused me a lot, but I have a rough image. Very rough. Like sandpaper. I'd like it if you could explain things to me. And be honest this time around, I don't like being lied to."

Her shoulders sag a little bit more while Cirno seems to have calmed down slightly at your lack of a violent reaction. Eventually, Dai look back up to you, takes a deep breath and starts talking.

"So, where do I start..." she fumbles around with the hem of her dress, "...I guess it all began over in Gensokyo, Mister. It's the place in Japan I told you about. We all came from there." She waves to Cirno and herself. "And there are more too. Our friends. We lost them when we got here. You see, Gensokyo is ths really special place where people like us all live together. I-"

You choose this moment to interrupt her and ask a question that's been burning a hole in your mind for some time now. "Excuse me Dai, but what do you mean with 'people like us'?"

Dai looks confused for a moment, looking between her, you and Cirno.

"I mean, uh, you know..." She trails off. "You know! Magic people! Fairies and youkai and gods and all the others! Me and Cirno are fairies!" she speaks, pointing to herself and the blue girl.

"... oh, really." You question, to which she nods furiously in tandem with Cirno. "Show me then."

With a flutter, you suddenly see huge, and you mean HUGE (in comparison to the real once you've seen until now) insect-like wings coming out from behind her back. The first question that strikes you is not how it works to have wings like that, or if she really can fly with them, or if she really is magical, no, it's the simple question how the hell those wings came out of her back without the RRRRRRIP of her dress' fabric tearing and getting shredded. You choose to store the question away for later use.

"Uh." No matter what, you're still a bit stumped. "Okay. So, continue." She flutters her wings once, it looks like some shiny particles of them came loose but you're not too sure. Last thing you want is fairy dust all over your dashboard. You don't know it, but it must be a pain to get out if normal, unmodified dust is anything to go by.

"So we are from Gensokyo, the land with magic in it. But only because out here on the outside there is almost no magic! No magic isnt good for fairies, so we stayed in Gensokyo, always! Until a few days ago. Then Cirno and me just dropped through the Border. We were looing for our friends then, they just up and vanished a few days ago. So I guess we now know where they're gone to. To here, to the Outside. But now we're stuck here too, and we haven't found them! Not at all! And we also have no way back! And it's cold! That's bad!"

"Huh?" Cirno sounds off from the side.

"Not for you, but I bet me and Wriggle, Rumia and Mystia have other things to say about that! Really bad things!" To this answer Cirno once again huffs and turns away, eyeing you suspiciously after a moment.

"SO!" She says. "Now you know whats up and all!" You don't, not really, at least not clearly, but she doesn't give you much of a chance to answer then and there. "So since you know, what do you say now?" She gives you something that you think is supposed to be an angry glare but comes off as hopelessly cute and way too trying-too-hard. "Come on, tell me! I want to know!"

[]What do you say?

===

Ignoring the choice from more than quarter a year ago for now. Need to freshen this up a little, emphasis on 'little'. Sarcasm intended. No typechecker, wrote this down in the middle of the night. Have concepts, such beautiful concepts. But too far into the story, too far away. Need to move closer, now.

Oh snap where the hell did this update come from?

[X] Relax Cirno, I'm willing to put my ridiculously busy life one hold to help you look for your friends.
-[X] So....what do they look like?
-[X] Are they as cute as you?

>>26182
I WARNED YOU ABOUT UPDATES BRO
I TOLD YOU DOG

Holy shit this story is back!

[X] I guess it's not everyday you come across fairies. Sure, I'll help.
-[x] You guys fell out of some kind of border, right? Since you two came out relatively close together, I don't think your friends will be too far.
--[X] So....what do they look like, and where would they go if they found themselves in a nonmagical land?

[X] I guess it's not everyday you come across fairies. Sure, I'll help.
-[x] You guys fell out of some kind of border, right? Since you two came out relatively close together, I don't think your friends will be too far.
--[X] So....what do they look like, and where would they go if they found themselves in a nonmagical land?

[x] I guess it's not everyday you come across fairies. Sure, I'll help.
-[x] You guys fell out of some kind of border, right? Since you two came out relatively close together, I don't think your friends will be too far.
--[x] So....what do they look like, and where would they go if they found themselves in a nonmagical land?
[x] Get the heater working again, and see if the car still works.

I'd really prefer not to walk in the snow, and I'm sure Daiyousei feels the same way.

[x] I guess it's not everyday you come across fairies. Sure, I'll help.
-[x] You guys fell out of some kind of border, right? Since you two came out relatively close together, I don't think your friends will be too far.
--[x] So....what do they look like, and where would they go if they found themselves in a nonmagical land?
[x] Get the heater working again, and see if the car still works.

Works for me~

man I'm liking the idea of just hanging out with the fairies in the real world. outta be fun to explain to the parents and neighbors why he has prepubescent girls living with him who seem very secretive about where they come from

Doesn't look like I'll be able to attract more readers / voters / votes without delivering some more content. Called for >>26186.

>>26188
Believe me, it will become a plot point. I don't like plot holes or handwaves for explaining this stuff. Just be prepared to face unforseen consequences.

Also, there may be a short side story from a different POV brought into play to extend your perspective on the happenings around this city. For better or worse.

>>26189
Tripping balls.

[x] I guess it's not everyday you come across fairies. Sure, I'll help.
-[x] You guys fell out of some kind of border, right? Since you two came out relatively close together, I don't think your friends will be too far.
--[x] So....what do they look like, and where would they go if they found themselves in a non-magical land?
[x] Get the heater working again, and see if the car still works.


While she is still staring at you, you contemplate what she asked you. You let your head sink back against the headrest and close your eyes. This evening had been very eventful, to say the least. Getting a new car, picking up a little girl that turned out to be a fairy, comforting her while she cried, crashing the new car and then fighting a monster that turned out to be a fairy. Now, you have to make a choice; to take the girls with you, or to throw them out of the car and leave as fast as your feet or wheels can carry you.

Yeah, right. Like it ever was a real question. Abandoning two girls who looked like they barely cleared elementary school into a snowstorm; what's next, eating kittens live?

“Yeah, sure I'll help you.” you say while you open your eyes and look at the two again. Cirno's trying-as-hard-as-she-can-look breaks down immediately, only to be replaced by a confused expression. “Wait, really?” she asks you.

“Yes, I promise. I guess it's not everyday you come across fairies, and refugee fairies at that.” You give them both a lopsided smile. “Can't just leave you hanging like that, right?”

Cirno just goes on looking confused while Daiyousei smiles broadly and starts patting her on the back. “See, I told you he was a nice guy!” That comment only earned her an angry look from the blue girl.

You still need to take the lead here though. These two do not seem to be very concentrated -or effective, for that matter- on finding that gaggle of other ...magic people? The three others they had mentioned. You presume they are fairies too, and from what you can tell at least just as lost as these here.

“Those others you mentioned, they fell out of the border like you did, right?” Your words make them stop playing around. As both of them look at you in thought, Daiyousei answers for the both of them, in a very enthusiastic manner.

“Well, we don't know where they went. Or, we didn't. We just noticed that Rumia was gone yesterday. Then we got together and went searching. But then, Wriggle didn't come back from his alone search too. And then we saw Mystia drop through some... some weird hole thingy in the air! And she screamed, so much, and then she was gone! Then we tried to go after her and hopped in the hole, but it was dark inside and there were scary shapes everywhere, and then we fell out on the other side, the Outside, here, I mean. It was really cold, we couldn't find anyone again and we didn't even know where we were.”

Daiyousei takes a deep breath after throwing out that torrent of words, only to continue right away again.

“So Cirno said that she'd go get help and we could search better if we split up so-”

“Alright, alright!” You interrupt her, a smile forming on your face. “I think I know how it goes from there.” You take a moment to think about what you just said while Daiyousei wheezes a little.

“...let me get this straight.” You lift three fingers. “Three friends lost?” The two nod. You open your hand fully. “Of five with you two?” They nod again. You're silent for a short while. “Can you describe them to me?”

Daiyousei has the ball again “Well, Wriggle is a firefly youkai so she has these little antennas on her head. She has green hair, a bit darker than mine and usually wears black shorts, a white shirt and a dark cape. Though I don't know how white that shirt stays in that weather.” She crinkles her brow a little, shakes her head, then continues “Um, yes. Mystia is really easy to recognize because she can't do like we can and put her wings away so she always has these huuuge” At this point, Daiyousei spreads her arms as far as she can, “wings on her back. She can fold them up neat so she can go through doors and be smaller but she always tells me that that itches or gets her cramps or something like that. And they are purple, just like her hair, so she should be really easy to spot. Rumia would look pretty normal to you – well, except the red eyes- but she's a youkai of darkness, so you'll probably not see her anyway. She usually has this sphere of darkness around her, so she looks like a black floating ball from the outside.”

Okay, green antenna, purple wings, black sphere. Not the best description, but it'll do. Especially since there probably aren't many others like that walking about.

She also used a foreign word there; 'youkai'. Japanese word for monsters, basically. You remember something that your one of your friends once shared with you, an encyclopedia of sorts about these creatures. You can, of course, remember next to nothing about the book; only a few little bits of info here and there. They are mostly ageless or very slow-aging. They are, unlike Western monsters, divided pretty evenly into hostile, neutral/mischievous and friendly. Have, again in contrast with the West, a long-standing history of getting laid by adventurous humans. You suppose even monsters sometimes want to be the little girl.

...this train of thought didn't really get you anywhere, especially if the friends of the two fairies in front of you are in their age-class (which you suspect pretty strongly). You turn back to the pair.

“Thank you, that will probably be enough to identify them when we see them. Do you have any idea where they would go if they landed in a non-magical land? Did you make any arrangements for that?”

Daiyousei once again looks thoughtful. “No, actually, I don't. We didn't make plans either. Oh!” She perks up. “ When I was lost, I kinda got drawn here, to the street with all the bright lights and loud cars. And Cirno, too! I bet the others will be around here somewhere just as we are.”

That's pretty solid logic, assuming the other three fell out somewhere around this area too. Since you have not seen them on your drive yet it is more or less safe to assume that they should be somewhere ahead on the road if they came towards it like Dai said. With that done, there isn't much left to do other than to get ready and get going.

“That sounds like a good idea, Dai. We'll just drive along the road slowly and you two will look out if there's anyone walking along it. Now, I guess you guys want to get going soon?

After getting hearty nods from both and a little 'yeah!' from Cirno you give them a small smile and start climbing through the gap between the front seats, Dai scurrying over to Cirno's side in the shotgun seat as you slide into the drivers'. You turn the key in the ignition and after a moment of sheer terror the engine begins its rumbling anew. You put the gear back into Drive and slowly give gas.

Which doesn't get you anywhere. The wheels spin emptily against the ground, not moving the car a single centimeter. Your shoulders sag, as well as your face. After turning the engine off again, you sigh and turn over to the girls.

“Figures, really. We're on frozen ground, I can't accelerate properly out here without help. I'm afraid we'll have to improvise something. I'll go out and push the car and you'll have to take up driving it, alright?”

The two don't really look up o the task, but given that it's the only way you have no choice. After explaining steering wheel use (hold it straight, don't do anything else with it) and pedal operations (push this one just a little bit, not too much or it won't work or you'll go flying) you leave Dai at the pedals and Cirno at the wheel since neither of them were large enough to operate both at the same time. Cirno protests a little over the circumstances of still not trusting you somewhat but after you insist that this is needed to get out of here she frowns again and holds onto the steering wheel.

“I could make it home all on my own if I wanted!” she huffs.

“Probably, but Dai couldn't.” you counter, earning a short 'urk' from Cirno. You head out.

The cold wind and snowflakes greet you like a slap right in the face. It hadn't been much warmer in the car either given that the heater was out most of the time until you turned on the engine but at least it didn't feel like Mother Nature wanting to blow you over. Trudging through the snow with your hands in your jackets' pockets you make your way towards the back of the car. As you arrive you knock on the rear window so the two know that they should start their work. You hear the engine rumble up and dig your heels in, pushing against the back of the car.

Nothing.

The tires still turn emptily, no matter how hard you push. Knocking against the window again to make Dai stop, you think what could have causes this.

…

Surely it couldn't be that, right?

You bend your knees slightly and lean forwards to look under the car.

Yeah, it's exactly that.

“Cirno! Get over here, your ice block is still stuck to my under-build!”

A few minutes later the ice fairy is half-way under your car, grumbling something under her breath while removing the block from your vehicle. You're amazed about how she's just nonchalantly kneeling in the snow, barefoot and without any protection against the cold, harsh winds blowing. Yet she doesn't even bat an eye. You shouldn't be surprised, really. After all, this is the girl who not long ago had been completely [i]encased[i] in ice.

While you wait, you let your eyes drift around the frozen field and the falling snow. And you spot something that you had completely forgotten in all the action from before.

The wreck of the Hopper's car is still laying out there, glowing an eerie green from its own illumination. Only now, there are lights coming from it that are a different color.

You're not entirely sure if they come from within the car or are circling around it. The snow makes your view fuzzy.

[x] Investigate.
[x] Let it be.
[x] Send Daiyousei to look.
[x] Write-in

=========

The plot thickens.

Sweet, updated again.

[x] Investigate.

If it's police or people who saw the crash, we can deal with them or see if we can go around them, if it's one of the three, we call the two fairies over, and in a pinch, we can get Cirno to go icemonster.

[x] Investigate.

[x] Investigate.

[x] Let the fairies know you're investigating.

Fuck yeah, updates. After two weeks in development, it was worth the wait.
Shorter waits are, of course, always appreciated.

[x] Investigate with Daiyousei.

Hey little not-girl I found shivering on the side of the road, get out of the warm car and check out that wreck your friend probably caused with me. Chop chop.

[X] Investigate with Cirno and Daiyousei.

There is safety to be had in numbers.

>>26212
>>26213
That might cause whatever normal people around to freak out.

[x] Investigate with Daiyousei.

As much as I like Cirno, I don't trust her to be able to keep from doing or saying something suspicious if we somehow encounter humans. And if it is one of her friends this way we will have her around to keep them from, hopefully, doing something to us.

Since the votes are all for Investigate but differ on how to, I'll just take the most voted sub-option.

[x] Investigate with Daiyousei.

No matter what, that wrecked car still contains a few people. You could't just abandon them out here in the cold, not with the cellphone connection probably shot to hell because of the storm.

...but going out there may be dangerous. You just fought against an ice monster after all. Which turned out to be a really little girl, but that is beside the point. No matter what, you should take some sort of protection with you. And given in what an 'efficient' manner Daiyousei solved the last problem you had, it would probably be a good idea to take her with you. Just in case. If it was not a dangerous situation you would be forced to explain to whoever was around why exactly you were dragging around a girl hardly wearing appropriate clothes through the snow. But that paled in comparison to getting mauled by some sort of glowing monstrosity.

You call out to Daiyousei to come over to you. She holds her head out of the door and asks you "What's going on?". You answer "I'm going to check out that broken car over there. There must be people left inside! Can you help me? There could be other monsters." She looks troubled for a moment, mostly looking around the snowstorm, but soon nods at you. She dives back into the car; you dont know why, but she comes back out with the blanket from before firmly wrapped around her. After walking up to you you ask her if she's ready. Getting a very determined look and a nod from her, you turn towards the wreck and begin moving. A moment later, you feel a pressure on your hand. As you look down, you see that she's grasped three of your fingers with a hand, still the determined look on her. You smile again and take her hand in yours.

A moment later you trip and fall, almost taking her down with you. At your feet you spot your tire iron, buried partially in the snow. You take it in your free hand. It may still become useful after all.

So you move forwards through the snow, you leading and pulling her forwards and she, trailing behind and trying to keep her blanket from falling off her. The way isn't long after all, just about fifty paces. Soon, things start to clear up and you can see the wreck better. And you do not like what you can see there.

===

"Yo man, this shit is really good! Where did ya get that? Ya need to gimme the name of your dealer!"

"... shut up."

"Ah come on man, is nothing to be keeping secrets about! I always tell ya the names of my bros too, right? Come on man, tell me!"

"... for sake of fuck, shut your gob before I stuff it for you."

"Oh man, ya really don't need to be this pissed! Look, we had a crash, but it's nothing to worry about! We got out of it mostly well and that's really more tha' ya can ask for. Nobody got seriously hurt, the heater still works and I think the snowstorm is lessening. Soon we'll be able to call for help and the-"

"SHUT YOUR FACE, IDIOT. Let us get clear: we did not crash, you wrecked my car. ONE time I let you drive, you demolish car I spent months tuning and upgrading. And now you do not even have decency to admit to your fuckup. Also I'm bleeding in my face and really feel like I have been seriously hurt. So take crap you are talking and stick it where sun does not shine."

"Jeez, oversensitive much? Like that scratch is going to kill ya. And anyway, ya car was..."

"... what? What was my car? You have problem? Lost will to gab off?"

"Dude, check it."

"What?"

"Out the window."

"Wha- oh this has to be joke."

"Tell me where you got that shit from man, I'll pay any price."

"This very confusing. Put the blunt out."

"Hey, don't! I still wanted to smoke that! Damn, man."

"I grow all weed myself. I do not put hallucinogens into them. And you should be clear because we are going."

"What? Ya wanna tell me that that is a real girl out there? AND ya want me to go out there in the snow? Fuck that man, fuck tha- hey!"

"You. Are. Coming. Is your fuckup, you will help cleaning up."

"Cleaning up? Whaddaya mean?"

"Do not know. There is flying little girl outside. I see her without drugs. Is suspicious. Maybe at fault for crash, maybe not. And Skinny?"

"...?"

"You maybe come too?"

"...!"

"Good. Take what you need, then follow. We go."

===

As you come closer to the wreck you notice that there are in fact lights shining off it. Those making them are group of six little fairies. In this case 'little' is the right term since they seem to be no larger than your lower arm while having the proportions of a eight-year old. They wearing some sort of black-red maid uniform, the kind you never expected to see outside of poorly made porn flicks or Japanese Anime, which frankly overlapped at some times. One of them, marked with a gold-rimmed maid headdress is flying close to the cracked windshield while the others are hovering a little ways behind her, some of them rubbing their hands and shivering in the cold. The leader fairy seems completely unpertubed by the harsh weather. She is chatting rather exitedly- straight at the car it seems.

"-and Mistress Scarlet is the best Mistress ever, she even gives us a whole day off each week and we can fly around the mansion all day if we do what we should do and clean up and stuff and you should never make her angry because she is really really strong and one time threw this game she was bad at all the way to the middle of the lake and-"

There seems to be no stopping her. You stop about ten steps away from them and just observe what they are doing. After a little while of snow blowing in your face one of the follower fairies notices you, grows googly eyes and prods her companion. The other one looks over to you and afer a moment of confusion follows the same actions as her predecessor. Soon five fairies are staring at you and Daiyousei.

You decide to give them a friendly wave, no matter how undiscernible the 'friendly' is going to be under your thick jacket and hat.

One of them waves back and gets dope slapped for it by her neighbor. A moment later, the head fairy turns around in her triade.

"-and we all get these super-duper dresses for working, see?" She points at her little posse and waves her tiny hands in their direction before looking for herself. "See?" Abruply her face falls from its cheery expression to a more angry look at the others. "Hey! We're promoting the New Scarlet Devil Reign here! Be a little more supportive! Do I have to do it all by myself?" She flies forwards to grab one by the shoulder and turn her to face her. "Empires don't build themselves you know."

The fairy she grabbed just points at you. Following the direction of the extended arm, she finally spots you, a look of surprise crossing over her face, before she flies forward to greet you.

"Greetings, Outside Human! I'm the fairy Lucy Pillowdress and Sergeant of the First Scarlet Scout Corps! I'm here to recruit new members to the ranks of my mistress, the great Eternally Young Vampire Remilia Scarlet!"

First fairies, then youkai. Now vampires. Great, just great. You seem to be moving upwards on the threat list. What next, werewolves? Moon Nazis?

"Uh, what?" you ask her. "She... wants me to join her personal army?"

"A-yup!" The head fairy nods her head happily. "She's a really good mistress. She always cares for us on the inside even though she wants no one to know that she does. She really-"

You get the feeling that she's going to repeat exactly what she tried to tell the guys in the car you've been trying to get closer to. Only the last time she had archieved a critical failure due to not understanding that cars are supposed to be somewhat soundproof. She is again interrupted by just that vehicles doors opening. Well, the driver's seat door opens. The passenger door on your side seems to be stuck somewhat. Whoever is inside bangs against it one, twice, thrice before it tears open ith a squeak and creaks as the hinge reaches its maximum angle.

Out the door comes a fairly tall man, probably a handsbreadth taller than you. He has wide shoulders and a strong build. He's wearing some sort of poofy brown bomber jacket together with blue jeans and sneakers. What draws your eye is the cut on his forehead with dried and rubbed blood all around and mostly below it. He looks somewhat angry, understandable from his wound. On the driver side a much shorter man gets out, coming up to a little more than your shoulder. He's looking considerably thinner than the other one. He's wearing black baggy pants and a longer purple-something jacket that reaches over his upper thighs. They both look like they are your age or slightly older, maybe a year or two. You shift the tire iron in your hand.

A moment of straightening out their clothes later they both trudge through the snow towards your little convent, Miss Pillowdress still happily telling you about her mistress and working place. You think she moved on to flowerbeds and how to car for them by now; not that you've really listened. It seems like this is less personal army and more some sort of paid hand for anything, from serving tea to sweeping mansion corridors to fixing what's broken. The name 'Scout Corps' is fairly decieving. As the two reach the fairies the wounded one clears his throat rather loudly. The shorter guy keeps rubbing his face and eyes, as if he can't believe this is happening. You can't really blame him. Miss Pillowdress interrupts herself to turn around and look, if only to squeal a little in delight at how many people are listening to her go on about this red somethingorother mansion of hers. The other fairies just fidget around nervously since they are now surrounded by beings much larger than themselves. The leader seems completely unbothered.

"Oooh, more recruits! Since you already listened earlier, you already know what comes with enlisting! So the only thing left now is to ask the golden question!" Her cheery expression falters for a moment, face scrunched up in thought. After a few seconds of mumbling to herself, she digs around in her pockets and a while later pulls out a folded piece of paper. After looking at it her face immediately eases up back into cheerfulness.

"Do you, Applicant Name Here, sign up for joining the Scarlet Devil Mansion's troops? To serve and protect your beautiful mistress until death parts you from her service? In fineprint: It will be your death, she is a vampire for crying out loud."

She takes a look into the assembled crowd, a big smile on her face. "Well?"

You feel a nudging from the side. Daiyousei is pulling on your hand and keeps shaking her head, her eyes pleading.

What do you say?

[x] Yes.
[x] Yes. (Lie)
[x] No thanks.
[x] [Surprise attack]
[x] Write-in (I know some of you could get really creative here)

[x] No thanks.

[x] No thanks.

Pretty sure they'll attack, unless they can't understand why would anyone refuse, but at least the noise will bring Cirno here.

[x] Short answer: no. ("What's the long answer?" "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo.")

[x] No thanks.

Why is the SDM always the first to pop up in situations like this? I swear, it's in every story.

[x] I'm already in an army. See the color of my skin? That's our uniform.

>>26220
Popular group is popular.

>>26220
Cuz they're the biggest faction in Gensokyo along with Eientei which is more secretive and the Human Village which is too paranoid. And to be honest, Fuck the SDM. Remi's a bitch.

[x] No

Let's go for a yuyuko route shall we men?

[x] No thanks.

Let's see... it seems that a bunch of lesser ranked beings were released here...

[X] No thanks, but if I change my mind, how can I find this mansion?

I wonder if they are lost too or if they know a way back to Gensokyo.

[x] Short answer: no. (What's the long answer? "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo.")

>>26222
See above.

[X] Ye- No.

[X] You best be jokin nigga.

No story has ever had a honest-to-goodness Cirno route, I think the closest was GH. Just throwin that out there.

>>26228
ASSM was Cirno route. We just didn't jam it in at the end.

Merry Chirstmas. I'm off to Amsterdam for a week, expect an update around New Year's.

Have fun and stay happy.

>>26231
Don't tell me what to do.
but Merry Christmas regardless

A sudden commitment to a cause you only heard of about three minutes ago doesn't seem like too good of an idea. You didn't learn how to dodge the endless popups in the early days of the web for nothing after all. "Sign up here! Three inches guaranteed!" Yeah, no.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm already commited to something ...'Miss'." you add after a moment. It's clear all over her face that she doesn't like your answer.

"What? Why? The Scarlet Scout Corps is the best opportunity for young people in all of Gensokyo!" There's that word again. Magical place for monsters or something, was it? "You better have a dang good reason not to join!" she throws in you face, leveling an accusatory finger towards you. She probably has no idea just how much she failed at intimidating you. To be honest, her frown looks more like a little kid's pout so she's not to blame for not trying hard enough.

"Well, I am in a university already. Becoming an engineer is a lot more of a safe workplace than being some sort of farm hand or butler in a mansion I've never heard of." You carefully leave out all the supernatural things that trouble you, getting your blood sucked when the vampire boss gets a little hungry for example. Your words just throw the fairy into confusion.

"University? Engineer? Are you making words up? What is this supposed to be, a bad joke? Listen, in service for the Mistress you get food, a very safe place to sleep at and some money you can buy yourself stuff at the markets with if you save it up a little. See this here?" She takes a silver or steel pocketwatch out of her dress. It dangles by a chain, clipped to her pocket. "I only had to save for three years to buy it! You usually never get this kind of stuff!" She seems to be terminally unlucky with impressing you. Silently you take out your cellphone and hold it up to the fairies.

"You have a watch. I have a cellphone. With the job I have on the side to my engineer's education, I bought this. I can talk to anyone else who has a phone with it, no matter where I am or they are. It makes light," you hit a random button and the display lights up; you can see the gleam of the bright screen in their weyes. "it tells me what weather will come over the next days, I can play music with it and write letters with it." You hit the lock key. The display darkens "Plus, it has a built-in watch. I saved three months for it." Back then, it seemed like a long time. Your grin is wide, almost as wide as the eyes of the rank-and-file fairies. Two of them are mumbling to each other. Lucy seems dumbfounded but catches herself after a few seconds.

"Well, fine! Go and be an engineer, whatever that is! I can still recruit a lot of other people!" She turns on the spot and faces the two guys from the other car. "So, you two! You want to-"

She is interrupted by the taller one. "No, actually. We more interested in answers. We saw a very bright flash before. Blinded us, then we crashed. Thought it was lightning because of storm first but now we not so sure." He speaks with a thick eastern-european accent. Polish, russian? He inclines his head forward. "You maybe involved in this?" His words seem to only irritate the fairy further. She throws up her tiny hands in anger and gesticulates wildly.

"Ahh, yes! It was us! How do you suppose we came here? The teleportation spell makes a lot of noise and light. It's a pretty new one the magician told me so of course there's still kinks to iron out." She sighs. "This was a big dissapointment. We have to double-time it to make up what we lost!" she speaks, turning back to the other fairy maids.

"Hold up." The guy from earlier speaks again. "We crashed because of flash made by you. That means you are at fault for crash." His eyes narrow. "Can you pay? Or repair?" He seems agitated.

"What? Pay you? You should count yourself lucky that I don't blow you away where you stand for wasting my time! The Scarlet Devil Mansion is busy and so are it's servants! We need to spread the glory of our mistress everywhere and people like you hinder us! Pah!" she exclaims,turning around again. The others in her troop/squad/unit seem to disagree with her, given the placating and worried looks on their faces. The second guy in the purplish hoodie raises an eyebrow at all of this while the taller one gains an angry look on his face.

"Little girl!" He steps forward and grabs her by the upper arm. He easily wraps his entire hand around it. "I am not in mood for jokes! You caused this, you will pay debt! You or your boss, I do not care!" He shakes his hand, jerking her around. It looks violent, given how small she is. The other guy has a very disturbed look on his face, placing a hand on his friends shoulder and shaking it. "Hey man, chill out, she's just a kid..."

After a moment of shock Lucy regains her vigor. "Who are you to say that to a sergeant of the Corps! I should make an example of you!" Since she's still locked in the grip of the maybe-russian it is not very impressive but the look on her face shows that she's either very good at hiding her true feelings or completely fearless. Commendable but dangerous, especially in this situation. The fairies behind her share the expression of the shorter guy; they keep tugging at Lucy's dress and urging her to stop; not that you can hear much of what they say, the storm is still blowing snow everywhere.

Daiyousei just hides behind you, peeking around your waist. She seems to feel the tension in the air.

What do you do?

[x] Side with Lucy.
[x] Side with the russian.
[x] No one except those two seems to want a fight. Negotiate.
[x] Leave silently, it's none of your business.

[x] Side with Lucy.

What does this option entail? Helping her make an example of him? It is a mystery.

[x] No one except those two seems to want a fight. Negotiate.

While the Russians do have a legitimate grievance, the fairies evidently can't pay and their bosses are in another dimension.

[x] No one except those two seems to want a fight. Negotiate.

[x] No one except those two seems to want a fight. Negotiate.

[x] Side with the russian.

Soudns like a plan.

[X] No one except those two seems to want a fight. Negotiate.

[x] Leave silently, it's none of your business.

Seriously, we're already entangled with Dai and Cirno. Let's not get involved with even more supernatural weirdness.

[X] No one except those two seems to want a fight. Negotiate.

Called for negotiation.

Also, a question. I feel like I'm railroading. Am I railroading this story? This is bothering me a lot.

>>26244
I don't feel railroaded, and while I obviously can't speak for everyone, I think if others thought they were, you'd be hearing about it.

>>26244
You're giving options that clearly lead to different outcomes, so no, you arent. Just having a general plotline doesnt exactly mean you're railroading, and dont let anyone tell you otherwise.

>>26244

Who cares? If it's interesting, then I'll read it. If it's not, then I won't. I don't feel the need to make this website more complicated than that.

Updates where?

Trouble in RL at the moment. I'll make time for writing in the next few days sometime. Expect me.

>>26332
Fair enough, RL takes priority. Glad to hear you haven't disappeared, though.

>>26333
Nigga the day I just 'disappear' or 'give up' is the day I die. Don't think that badly of me, please.

>>26335
Put your money where your mouth is then, nigga.

>>26352
IT'S ON NOW.
Five hours or something.

>>26352
There, you made me do it. Happy now?
Not proofread and power-written. Quality may be low.

[x] No one except those two seems to want a fight. Negotiate.

“Now listen here, little girl-” the man starts up again, bending over to look her right in the face. She meets him with defiance, still the same angry frown on her features. Behind her the fairies are clamoring and the friend of the man tugs harder on his shoulder, talking to him in hushed tones. Both are ignored by the two. Accusations are made. Insults are thrown.

You have to stop this before it ends in violence. With a few steps you clear the distance between you and the two and put your hands up into the air. “Please, stop!”

Though they don't let go of each other, at least you got their attention. You are confronted by an angry glare by a large Slavic man and a little girl trying and failing to scare you with her scrunched up eyebrows.

“Well, uh, you know, I don't think it's a good idea to get all confrontational and violent here. I mean, I do get that you're angry about your car but you can't really blame the fairy here. She didn't mean to do that, you know that too, right?”

He gives you a hard look, as if he personally blamed you for all the bad things that happened to him this night, nay, all of his life and the only one at fault was you, you alone.
It melts a moment later and relaxes his grip on Lucy's arm. She didn't waste a moment and immediately pulls away, rubbing the numbness out of the spot he took hold of.
“Okay fine, maybe should not have grabbed little girl so rough.” he says, running a hand through his hair. “But this is bad, you know? Car expensive, lots of work time went into machine. Also sentimental value. First car of mine.” Looking closely, you notice that he isn't all that old as he seemed. Maybe only a year older than you, maybe two.

“Well, but what am I supposed to do now? Car is broken, not getting fixed any time soon. When not her, then who?” he gives you a confused, agitated look.

“Well, see... she can't pay right now, but that doesn't mean that she won't be able to pay up later, right?I mean, she did say she teleported here so when that is possible I guess fixing a car shouldn't be that hard, right?”

“Hmm..” he wrinkles his eyebrows, “I guess you speak truth. Other truth is though, nothing can be done now. So no use getting worked up either way.” He rubs his arm, lowering his head and mumbling something. The fairies and the other guy are quite surprised about how easily you calmed the Russian down. It seems he is one of the temperamental kind. Still, his behavior makes you raise an eyebrow.

“You're taking this awfully well. The fairies and the teleporting and the, well, flying little girls.”

He just shakes his head and waves you off. “Reasonably sure that problem is not with me. I take no drug, I am not drunk, I did not hit head- too hard, very least.” He looks up and into your eyes. “If not me cause of problem, then there is no problem. Just have to deal with it. Have seen weirder things than this on trips to motherland.”

Well, you guess he has you pretty covered there. A weird philosophy, but it must come in handy from time to time. For example right now where the world seems to turn onto its head and do wheelies with its ears. The Russian just stands there, looking awkward. Lucy fusses over the remaining fairies, trying to get some semblance of order into them and making them line up like the proper scout corps should but failing miserably for all the so-called scouts are doing is clambering all over their leader with cries of 'Are you alright?' 'Did he hurt you?' and 'Lucy, I was so worried!'. It'd be rather cute if Miss Pillowdress wasn't angrily whacking the other fairies out of the way like so much flies and blurting out “Yeah! I'm fine! Gerroff!”.

Well, that's their business. A moment later, the other guy steps forward, his purple jacket stained white in the snowfall. “Yo dude, can I as you something?” He points his thumb over to the Russian. “That guy is about as stuck-up about these things as you can be, so just let me break this up: we need a ride. The AC's busted and the car won't hold the heat in the way it is right now anyway.” He shrugs and holds his palms out. “Could we hitch one with you?”

Which is pretty much the moment where you feel a tap on your shoulder and turn only to come face-to-face with another one of the fairies. She's the one who waved at you earlier when you first walked over to them. Shy red eyes look at you while she speaks

“Um, mister, you broke up that fight Lucy's had really nicely right now and I'd really like to thank you for it. But, well, Lucy is all boss-like but she doesn't really know this place. We've been looking around a lot right now and we can't find anything with magic.” She shakes her head and pouts. “It's so confusing! There's supposed to be lotsa magic where people live! Not empty like here!”
After a bit of fluttering she catches herself again. “Well, I know Lucy won't ask, she'd say something about the pride and honor of the Corps and ruin everything again like she did at the Human Village, so let me ask: we have no idea where to go. Can you take us along till somewhere where we can find our way again?”

So you stand there, a purple hopper to one side and a tiny fairy to the other.

Well, now you're up to your neck in it.

Fifteen minutes later, your car has been pushed back up the slope and stands on the shoulder with the engine running. Inside are you, the Russian and the Turk (as you've found out while talking to them- neither wanted to give you a name, for obvious reasons you could still smell on both of their clothes) on the back seat with Daiyousei wedged in between them. She's pretty comfortable given that the Turk turned out to be pretty good with kids (“When you're the oldest in a four-kid family you learn to deal with this kid of stuff!”) and keeps telling her stories about how he mixed up the block he lives in. The passenger seat became the domain of the mini-fairies who alternate between lounging all over the cushions and jamming themselves into the leg room to dry their clothes in the warm blow of the foot warmer. Lucy herself has taken command of the dashboard in front of that seat and greatly enjoys giving commands sitting on the open hatch of the glove compartment.

As for Cirno, well, after a moment of thinking about the seating arrangements she enthusiastically proposed to ride along on the roof of your car. You disagreed at first but after she made clear that with her freezing powers she really wouldn't run the danger of falling off and that the cold wind was a non-issue anyway you let her ice herself to the top and sat into the driver's seat, shaking your head at the absurdity. After urging the little fairies once again to at least try to jam themselves behind the seat belt you put up, foolishly hoping they would stay put and not move around, you put the car into gear again and drive off into the snowstorm.

It is noisy, cramped and in a weird balance between too hot from the cars' interior and too cold from the exterior. Thinking hard, you come to only one possible solution.

What music to put on?

[]Switch on the radio, there should be news on in a few minutes.
[]Write-in.

>>26354
I feel somewhat guilty about it actually.
Still, I find myself quite liking it, especially the Russian.
[X] News.
Can't think of anything else worthwhile.

Bitching actually worked. Wow.

[x] News

Magical girls popping up everywhere sounds pretty fucking newsworthy to me.

[x]Cheesy power metal, then news.

Nothing improves a day like cheesy power metal.
Also, welcome back.

[x] News.

The fairies won't enjoy it, but that's just too bad. Also, hell yes, updates.

[x] News.

There is magical mayhem afoot. Maybe. Also, hooray for updates.

Holy shit updates. And now we're on an awesome road trip!

[x]Evangelical Christian Preaching Does Germany even have that?

[x] News, but people get to take turns deciding what to listen to when it's commercials. SDM fairies count as one person if their boss tells them what to pick.

If it's giving you trouble, please feel free to ignore everything after 'news' in my vote.

So when we get pulled over for having a little girl on the top of the car, should we pretend she's a relative and we had no idea she was up there, or introduce the cop to magic?

>>26361

If he ignored everything after "news", that means he would ignore the part asking to ignore everything after "news" if its giving too much trouble, thus making him take your entire vote into account, whether or not it's too much trouble.

[x] News.

European debt crisis for the win

[x]News
There might be some information regarding other Gensokyans

Taking a look over your shoulder into the mess that the interior of your car has become you

let out a sigh. A moment later you realize what you are doing and immediately whirl back

around to keep the road in view. There's still a snowstorm going on and another accident no

matter how well the first one went has good chances on rendering you all dead or grievously

wounded. The fact that you can barely see further than your own engine hood doesn't help

matters much. This has to be the storm of the century even if there's still most of the

century to go.

The ride is anything but silent. Right now, your ears are assaulted from almost all

directions at once. From behind you get that Turk mouthing off about that one day where he

had a throwdown with three of his friends against at least twenty skinheads, each of them

two meters tall and at least just as wide and where he of course ended up kicking all of

their butts after his friends ran away in fear. You can of course not hear the Russian

silently roll his eyes shake his head and cross his arms but you can imagine him doing so

(and are completely correct on it). Just as well, since you can certainly hear Daijousei

'ooh' and ask 'Big Bro' to tell her more exiting stories.

"-and I so totally gave a spinkick to that one guys face, but then I used that momentum to

jump off his face and puch the other guy square in the stomach in one smooth move!"

"Wooow!"

"Yeah, I know. Unbelieveable, right?"

In the corner of your eye you spot the little Scout Corps Scurry around, greatly enjoying

themselves in the much warmer environment you helped them to. A few of them apparently fell

asleep on something soft and comfy (shotgun seat, headrest, other sleeping fairies) as soon

as they touched down inside the car and warmed themselves up a little. Notably, Lucy seems

to be one of the few not belonging to these, the others not asleep you are able to count off

on one hand -and even among those, half of them constantly nod off or are just barely

listening to their leader. Lucy is going strong though. After occupying the foot warmer for

ten minutes straight she put herself to rest in the open glove compartement and began

holding little motivational speeches to her underlings. 'Little' to be taken in multiple

meanings in this context; they are both pretty short and full of ideals of very childlike

thinking.

"So our great Leader, Lady Remilia, into- indu- showed us for the fist time how good we have

it in our great Mansion and how we Scouts are the most respected of all Fairy Teams because

we have to go away from the Mansion for long times and only get very little of all the good

things that the Mansion and Lady Remilia does for us. Just imagine a life without cupcakes

on Sundays!"

A great exclamation went through the fairies at this, though it was kind of listless with

some of them.

"So always make sure of serving Remilia to the best of your abilities! She is hard but just!

When you do your best, she sees it and no matter what happens will always back you!"

It all congeals into a mess of noise in which you could hear neither talk clearly but both

enough that you were annoyed for not catching all of it. You needed to end this.

"Everyone quiet down please, it's almost quarter one. There will be news in a mo, we should

listen in on that. There may be something on these magical shenanigans you guys told me

about."

The chatter slowly dies down during your explanation and ends as you thumb the ON button.

The radio starts up with the ending of a song you heard a million times but still cannot

remeber the name of, a song about life in the Big City.

"-Am dead-beat and rub your dust out of my eye,
you're not pretty and you know it well, your panorama's a mess
don't even look nice from far away, but the sun's just coming up
and I know, if I like it or not, that I need you to stay alive...

The song slowly plays out its last notes and fades off into silence. A moment later the

newsjingle of the interregional radio station starts up and an announcer with what seems to

be a little too much coffee in his blood starts up his routine.

"Good morning, early risers! This is the SWRB, the South-West Radio Broadcast, and we're

bringing you the latest on traffic and newsflashes! First of all, I hope you're listening to

me ramble here from the comfort of your home, nursing a nice cuppa joe, because if you're

getting me in your car right now then, oh boy, I wouldn't like to be in your shoes! The

worst snowstorm in the history of the last thiry years has struck Germany and the center of

the low-pressure zone is zeroing in on the regional capital, right here where I am, ladies

and gentlemen, Stuttgart City. The storm shows no signs of weakening and if there still were

any active meteorologists in our weather station at this hour then I bet they'd still tell

me the same stuff Marco told me when I held him by his jacket three hours ago and made him

give me a statement before he buggered off to his warm bed: 'If you're out there, you

shouldn't be. Get home soon and fast, we really don't know how bad this can all get. You

dont want to be lost out there.' The weidest part was that I spied on him ramble about how

the zone seemed to slow down and stay stuck over this very area but I guess even people like

him can get a bit confused at times.

You crease your brow. Do people like this really get to keep jobs in this business? In any

case, this trouble with the snow storm shouldn't concern you for a much longer time. You

know that the city limits are barely a kilometer away from where you are at this moment. It

is not much further until you will pass under the old railway bridge that in connection with

a slightly lowered road and graffiti-covered concrete walls to the left and right of the

street practically forms a sort of entry 'gate' into the city.

"Other news! There have been a number of traffic incidents due to the storm, until now

without any casualties. Since aerial travel is seriously hampered at this moment we cannot

inform you much about traffic jams but rest assured, there is more snow than cars on the

roads at this time. As far as we can tell most people have wisely decided against going out

in this weather and prefer staying at home. Pity those who have to stay out there by

necessity. Poor Autobahn cops, I bet they're freezing their nuts off at this time. If you

heard that, dear policemen, just know that I wish you safe travels and good luck!"

Just as you heard this, you notice a blue shine in your rear mirror. As you look into it,

the sirens and the blue spinning lights open up to greet you with your protector and

servant.

A glove-colored hand waves a reflecting sign out of the car's window, 'STOP, POLICE: PULL

OVER' written in red letters on it.

"Oh snap! It's the fuzz!" comes from the back seat.

Well now.

[] Floor it.
[] Slow down and pull over.
[] Get creative. [Write-in]

[x] Slow down and pull over.

Best to listen.

>The weidest part was that I spied on him ramble
Get yourself a proofreader. Now.

[x] Slow down and pull over.

>Weird line staggering

I strongly recommend turning off Word Wrap before you copy-paste from Notepad to the message box. Trust me on this; I've seen the same problem in my own stories.

>reflecting sign out of the car's window, 'STOP, POLICE: PULL OVER' written in red letters on it.
Do police in Germany do this? I ask because I don't know.

[x] Get creative. Yell to Cirno to put a bunch of falling snow between you and the police car. Then hit the brakes.

>>26367
>>26371
This stuff wouldn't have happened if I had the time and tools I usually have. Due to THP is not my blog problems access to my PC is blocked. I wrote the update on a cruddy netbook. Or right now for example, I'm posting from a potato.

>>26372
Also yes.

[x] Get creative. Yell to Cirno to put a bunch of falling snow between you and the police car. Then hit the brakes.

Make a smokescreen out of snow? I like that idea!

[x] Get creative. Yell to Cirno to put a bunch of falling snow between you and the police car. Then hit the brakes.
[x] If nothing else works, chuck fairies at them!

>>26377
Interesting. And these are held by hand? Wouldn't that make driving difficult?

>>26383
Yes they are, but don't ask me, I've never been in police cars. But they double-team over here too, so I'd assume the guy not busy driving would use them. Don't really have any specs on all that.

why are we trying to give the police the slip?

>>26387
'Hello officer, don't mind the child in between the turk and the russian on the back, the blue one is on the roof of the car by choice, and I'll keep my little fairies in the trunk from now on.'

I wonder why...

but does that warrant throwing stuff at them? that IS a crime right?

Oh damn it all. The police is the last thing you need or expected at this time. There's simply too many things wrong inside your car right now to seem like an ordinary, law-abiding citizen. Two strangers, one more or less stoned out of his mind, both smelling like a weed plantation, a gaggle of tiny fairies human-like creatures and two kids without any papers or documentation, one of them frozen to the top of your car. If the policemen get a hold of you right now even if they are lenient to you on the strangers (Because, well, you only picked them up out of helpfulness, right? Not like you gave them the weed.) the fairies will raise too many uncomfortable questions the cops will want to have answered in the safety and warmth of a nice police station not too far from where you are right now.

In any case. You need to salvage this situation. Starting about right now.

"Lucy!" you call out to the fairy commander. "We've got bandits incoming from six o'clock! Initiate evasive manouvers!"

She looks at you, confused. "What did you say?"

"New objective for you, get under the seats and stay silent, this is a sneaking mission!" you speak, keeping your eyes on the police car in your rear mirror.

"I don't remember you being my superior officer." She puts her fists to her hips, standing proud and solid.

"Yeah, I maybe not, but those guys back there got big guns and bigger authority around these parts than you'll ever have in the foreseeable future, so if you don't want your scouting expedition ended early and violently you better get a move on and keep your heads low!"

That seemed to frighten her somewhat. Wringing her hands, with wide eyes, she begins to mumble: "The mission ended... early? No, no, NO! That can't be!" Flying about in a whirlwind of motion she begins issuing orders and helping to lug the sleeping fairies in her party under the two front seats.

"Daiyousei! Up to the front seat and buckle up!" After a start she perks up, gives you a nod and clambers through the gap between the seats.

"Now, you two back there!" you shout over your shoulder. "Do something about that pot smell! And you better not be carrying any of that stuff in your pockets right now!"

The Russian and the Turk share a glance, resigned from one side and a mix of hopeful and embarrased from the other. "Toss it out, now. All weed in world is not worth problems with police." The Turks's spirits feallll and he pulls a small bag out of his jacket, handing it over to the Russian who proceeded to take it and turn to the window to throw it out. "Wait." he said, hesitating. "If we throw weed away now the police will notice and check with drug tests. We need a distraction."

Daiyousei just finished settling in the now-empty seat and fumbles around with the seatbelt, trying to make it look like the way you are wearing yours. You take a little pity to her and reach over, plugging it in for her, She gives you a relieved smile and tugs on the seatbelt, clearly uncomfortable. Then you look back to the Russian. "A distraction, huh?"

You probably would have thought up something interesting but this is the moment where you remember that Cirno is still on the roof. She wouldn't just be a distraction, she could get you reliably busted for a number of years in her current state. Immediately you roll down the window and yell outside, getting a faceful of snow in the process.

"Cirno! Are you alright?"
From somewhere above you, you hear whooping and cheering.
"Faster, fasteeeeeer! Yaaay!"
"Cirno!"
"Huh, what?"
"Cirno, I need you to get off there right now! The police are onto us! You need to get away from there!"
"Police? What's that?"
"The law! You know, the guys who watch out for the rules! They're after us!"
"Oh, I get it! I know just the thing!"

Anything else you might have said was droned out by the ear-splitting shattering of all the blocks of ice she had attatched to the car to hold herself there. YOu only have a moment to turn around and to look back at the silver-blue car holding it's distance behind you before a vertiable avalance of snow and ice rushes towards it off from the top of yours.

***

"Ah Ben, shut that window already. They've seen the sign well enough and you're letting all the warm air out."
"You think they'll pull over?"
"...you really expect 'em to flee? Look, it's freezing and that car looks like some oldtimer is driving it. The only reason we're pulling 'em over is the pile of snow on top of it. That's dangerous, it could fall on someone's car mid drive. That's only worth a little warning and apology though. We'll let 'em off a minute later."
"Well yeah, I guess you're right. Still, in this weather getting out of the car is damn uncomfortable. Sure won't be me later."
"Tough luck kid. Rank privileges, you're up."
"What?! Thats the third time today! You can't be serious."
"Sure am. Don't worry, I was in your spot once too. When you get into my position you'll be sick of it too and order your own subordinates around."
"No way in hell I'll end up acting like that. I have standards."
"Whatever you say, pallie."
"No, seriously, I will- hey, watch out!"
"WHOA!"

***

The wall of white rushes towards the vehicle trailing behind you. It immediately swerves to the left, dodging most of the ice but still gets a handful against the edge of its windshield. After a moment the driver kicks the gas pedal, speeding ahead and pulling in front of you seconds later where he slows down, braking you out. You slow down obediently, the Russian having made the most of the moment to toss out the weed and open the windows for a moment so the weed smell could escape from the car.

Cirno seems to have vanished as your continued yelling couldn't raise her and you had to shut the window to remain inconspicious anyway. You hope she is safe and sound.

As you come to a halt on the side of the road and see one of the policemen getting out and coming towards you, you take a look around inside. Besides muffled conversation from under the front seats and Daiyouseis green hair (which you hope will bypass the policemans' senses in the same way it bypassed yours) it looks like the situation is pretty normal. Three guys and a little girl. Hmm. Well, it'll work out. This is a traffic contol after all, things shouldn't go too awry.

Outside, you notice, you are just in front of the railway bridge you thought about earlier; it crossing right above the road not fifty meaters ahead. To your left and right are concrete walls, about six meters high and liberally splattered with graffiti of various origins. The walls give some degree of protection from the wind and snow, but doesn't stop it from dropping straight downwards. Which is why visibility is still bad; you're not able to see much further than the cop car.

A knock on your window reminds you of what you're about to face. You turn the handle to let the window down and meet the policeman face to face. He's about twenty-five years old from the looks of it, with a lightly grim, agrravated expression on his face. He nods towards you.

"Good evening, sir. Drivers licence and car documentation please."

After handing them to him he leafs through the papers, no doubt checking for any hints of lawlessness. Evidently he didn't find any as he hands you the documents back about a minute later.

"Seems to be alright. Do you know why I've pulled you over?"

"Not really, no." you honestly admit. "Something to do with the snow on top?"

"Exactly. You do know that you should clean the top before beginning a drive, dont you?"

You know that the best way to get rid of people like this is to play along and admit to your faults; obstinacy will only make them angry. "Yes sir, I do. I apologize for the inconvenience, I was in a hurry today because of the snow storm. I'll remove it properly the next time."

He crinkles his brow; seems that went a little too smoothly for his taste. A moment later he shakes his head. "Well, fine. We'll let you off with a warning for this time. Just make sure it doesn't happen again, okay?"

"Of course. Good evening, sir." he gives you another nod, shivers a little in the cold and then goes on his way.

You crank up the window again, then lean back and take a deep breath. That went smoother than you imagined. Well, you guess even you could get lucky once in a while.

At this very moment a subway train makes roaring passage over the railway bridge up ahead, the big windows shining with light and illuminating the street below. Faintly you make out moving shapes under the bridge.

You're sure your eyes are decieving you, but it looks like someone is jumping around under the bridge, affixing something to the girders, walls and the underside of it with unnatural dexterity. This apparently bypassed the cop completely and he's about to get back into the police car right now.

What do you do?

[] Drive onwards.
[] Wait for the policemen to go through.
[] Call out to the cop.
[] Write-in.

[x] Call out to the cop.

If Gensokyo-ites are causing trouble, the authorities will find out about it. If we warned the authorities about the trouble in a nonthreatening fashion, they will be less likely to look at us as a part of the trouble.

[x] Wait for the policemen to go through.

If he's so eager to get back into his warm car and spring a possible trap for us, why not let him?

[x]Drive onwards

I'm assuming this mean 'check out that fucking subway'.

[x] Call out to the cop.

Let's give him a heads up in case it's something nasty. No need to be rude because he's doing his job.

[x] Call out to the cop.
Now update before I am forced to taunt you a second time.

[x] Call out to the cop.
Nitori?

[x] Call out to the cop.
Testing if the force of votes can revive an author.

[x] Call out to the cop.

Not reading this story, I don't even know what I'm voting for, but if it can bring a writefag back, you have my voice.

>>26436
>>26555
>>26556
>>26557
Oh you guys. Okay, first thing I'll do when on the computer tomorrow is crank out some update for you.

On it, got about three pages done. Need to wait until I reach a cutoff point that feels vaguely natural.

Leaving the policeman up to his fate seems like kind of a dick move, now that you think about it. Serve and protect isn't the kind of thing that you should let someone get screwed over by, even if he got a bit uptight towards you not too long ago. After all, it was his job. For all he knew you could have been a drug dealer, a criminal.
...well, it's not too far-fetched with those two on your back seat but still. You've got to do what you've got to do. Sighing, you unhook your seatbelt and open the door. You spot him at the police car and fumbling around with the latch.

Raising your voice a bit, you call out to him. "Uh, excuse me, officer!"
He turns and looks your way. "Yes? What is it?" You can hear his voice tinged with impatience. He clearly doesn't want to be outside.
"I think I saw something under the bridge over there!"
He turns to look at it. Now in the dark, there really is not much to see since even the shadows you saw earlier have completely molten into the universal darkness. It looks like a simple black strip of emptiness under the bridge, rimmed by dark grey expanses of snow in front and behind it.
He turns back to you. "And what would that be? I can't see anything."
You know what you have seen and you know that with the things you've seen until now it probably means nothing good. Once again, a bit of truth-bending will probably be the right idea. "I don't know for sure officer, but I think it was a hobo or something around that size and shape. I don't think leaving them to freeze out here is a good idea, right?"
You do know for a fact that policemen sometimes 'arrested' homeless in nights like these and stuck them into the sobriety cells to at least prevent them from freezing to death in their sleep. And given the thoughtful grimace on the young cops' face, he agrees with those who follow that line of thinking.
He spares the door another longing look, then opens it and tells his partner something that you miss over the distance. Pushing the door shut he turns over and walks off towards the railway bridge, the huge concrete structure towering over him more and more with each step towards it.
A few steps off the dark he fumbles around with one of the pouches on his belt, then procures a small flashlight. A click later a white ray of light shines out from the little black stick and illuminates the road between his feet. He lifts it up-

"EEEK!"

-and neatly jumps backwards half a metre because of the wire hanging not a hands' width in front of his face. Confused and a tad shocked he looks closer. He wonders of course what a wire the thickness of his pinky finger is doing hung up under a bridge on head-height. It looks strong and tightly wound, painted an off-white colour; it isn't even swaying in the wind. He doesn't want to imagine what would happen if someone raced into this at a hundred kilometers an hour. With the light, he follows the wire to its origin point.
Before he gets there however, it crosses another white wire. Now he realizes why he couldn't have seen them before; in the dark, they blended into the snow-white behind the bridge. The other wire, meeting at a rough right angle, is attached to the first one with... clamps? White electrical tape? No, as he steps closer he notices it has melted into the other one, wrapped itself into the other wire. He reaches out and pokes it. It feels wet and cold.

As he pulls his gloved hand back again and his finger completely fails to detach itself from the wire he finally realizes that this is not wire, that white is not paint and that he is in big trouble. He pulls and pulls but his hand won't come loose of the weird strand.

Wait a minute, he thinks to himself, that's my favorite glove! A moment later he is pulling as hard as he can, bracing his feet to get better traction on the slippery ground, but to no avail, it won't come off. He hasn't braced himself enough however as a bit of tugging later his hand slips out of the glove, the leather snapping back towards the sticky stuff that this strand is made of and nicely wrapping itself around it while he slips and falls onto his butt at the sudden change in resistance. He notices how the glove is slowly sucked inwards by the white substance, as if it were absorbing the glove itself.
His fall did more than that though. He notices the other strands now too. Crisscrossing, connecting, he finally makes it out as what it is: a gigantic spider web, spun under the bridge as if to catch incoming vehicles. The policeman is completely baffled. Who would put this kind of bad prank up? Why? This is dangerous! What were they thinking? Whoever did this is in for a stiff talking-to and a few nights in observatory arrest! He shines his light around, examining the web. Here it has its center, there it attaches to the pillars with some sort of web-blob, and above him on the underside there were some shadows he couldn't see through properly. He sees something move. Squinting, he brings the flashlight closer. The shadows recede somewhat and he sees the shape moving. He is confused; there is no space for standing or even crawling in between the support struts; that had all been sealed off with metal plates years ago to prevent pigeons getting everywhere. His confusion is swept aside and replaced by plain bafflement as a face pushes itself out of the darkness. A girlish face framed with straw blonde hair tied up with a brown bow and predatory yellow eyes with slit pupils.

"Hello there..." she purrs with a grin. Belatedly he realizes that she is standing on the sheer concrete that makes up the underside of the bridge. Without wires, rope or harness. Just standing on it upside-down.

"Uh, hello miss. May I, uh, ask you to step, uh, down here, uh, it's not really safe up there." he stammers, weirded out beyond all normal thought process. He's acting on simple trained-in instincts now.

"Sure I will. It's time." And gives him a smile.

He tilts his head aside. What? "Time?"

"Yes. Dinnertime." Suddenly those pearly-whites look a lot sharper than they did before. And then she just drops, straight towards him. Naturally, he does the only thing a man would do in such a situation.

He slugs her right in the face, then turns and bolts immediately.

Back at your car, you see a frightened and screaming policeman charging out of the shade of the bridge, a girl in a weird, poofy brown dress with a very angry expression and a bit of blood in her teeth hot on his heels. With your experiences of the last few hours (and the web you saw illuminated in the shine of his flashlight) that can only mean one thing: more trouble than you'd want to deal with right now. This suits you nicely since the other policeman jumps out of the car at just that moment and levels his sidearm straight at the girl in the brown dress.

"Freeze!" he shouts. "Stop right there!"
Stopping, she spares him a glance that spawns a perplexed expression on her face. "What is that? Do you humans have invented a new toy now?"
The other policeman, a rather well-fed man at least in his advanced forties and sporting a rather impressive moustache is completely nonplussed and continues staring at the girl down his gun barrel. "I don't care what; put your hands up in the air now! You are under arrest!"
She sports a look of complete bafflement, then laughs. A pearly, high laugh that only makes the older policeman grimace harder. His colleague has reached him by now and has taken up position on the other side of the car; rather frightened he has pulled a shockingly large submachine gun out of some compartment inside the car and has braced it up against the door, zeroing in on the girl in the brown dress. She seems completely unimpressed.
He laughter fades after a while. Wiping a tear off her cheek, she speaks again. "You silly humans, always trying to force rules onto everything wherever you go. Really, it's funny. Don't you realize that nature doesn't work that way?"

Then she just straight up lifts off the ground and hovers in chest-height. Both policemen’s mouths drop open, alongside yours.

"And neither do we." Those are the last words she speaks before she comes in for a low flyover of the cop car and pelts the vehicle and the ground around it with glowing yellow energy balls that fizz and crackle wherever they hit. You immediately jump back into your car and switch off all the lights, telling the others to be as silent and inconspicuous as possible.

Both policemen barely manage to dive back into their car, behind its bulletproof windshield, before the plasma balls hit, let the normal glass of the side windows grow red-hot, char and pockmark the paintjob and vaporize snow on every surface. The cops seem to have woken up from their stupor by now and are both taking aim at the flying girl after leaning out of the doors. Loud bangs, a popping staccato and flashes of light accompany the two servants of the state peppering the sky with lead.

"This is getting a bit too dangerous, innit?" the Turk remarks. "You sure you can't get us out of here, like, you know, now?" Meanwhile Dai just hides behind the dashboard and occasionally risks fearful glances outside. You hear some muffled noises from underneath her seat but the little ones are holding still.

Meanwhile, the gunfire has little effect. Soon the brown demon swoops back down, lancing the car and the spotty snow around it with her glowing shots again. The roof of the cop car looks pretty messed up, half the police siren molten and the other side charred and blackened.

"I don't think getting in the line of fire is a good idea right now." you remark.

The policemen understandably have enough of the barrage by now and both retreat into the car. Seconds later its headlights flare up, or to be precise one headlight since the other one has been taken out of commission by a blast. Then with a jump they accelerate down the street racing directly towards the bridge; and the spider web, you suddenly realize! Your worry is unfounded however as the car plows right through the strands, tearing them off of their attachments and leaving a gaping hole in the web. The furiously screaming brown-clad girl swoops down behind them, flying through the ragged gap in her spider web and following the policemen around the curve at the end of the street, finally out of sight. The only reminder is the distorted sound of the police siren fading into the distance.

The following silence is deafening.

As you stare out onto the snowy, burnt and debris-strewn road you can only barely imagine what impact this will have onto your life.

The answer comes from the back seat. "Friend, you should move now. Scene of crime is not good place to be when police backup arrives."

Yes, correct; focus on the now. There will be time to think of all the horrifying consequences later. You start the engine, put the car into gear; but just before you can speed off, a thump to your left nearly makes you jump ot of your seat.

It's Cirno. She's squeezing her face against your side window, her nose pressed flat, her breath condensing on the glass.

"Did I mith anythin'?"

Baffled, you miss the flash of green eyes on the bridge.

***

Right around the corner you go. You were half-expecting to find a burned out wreck of a car here or a dead demon and lots of blue lights spinning, but you only see a disturbed double-line of car tracks carving through the snow ahead, swerving left and right wildly. Lucky them that no one else is on the street at the moment. The autobahn leads directly into a district of the city known for its 'peak location' atop the so-called 'Stuttgart Cauldron'. The city center itself is down in 'the pit' as the locals call it; a dip in the landside ringed in by a steep climb on one side (whose rim you are approaching right now), the Neckar river on the opposite one and large swathes of forest on the other two. From where you are, if you were to get out of the car and walk into the suburbia crossed with woodlands to your left for about 200 meters, you could have a free view of the entire city gleaming in the night. As you are right now, you don't really feel the need to go there since you have places to be and things to do.

One of which would be depositing the two hoppers on the back seat to where they actually want to go. You ask them as much.

"Oh, it's no trouble really. I'll just ring up some of mah homies and they'll come and pick us up, no big. Sven should be round this bend; he can take us back into town over the river."

"Ah, you come from Canstatt?" you ask him. Canstatt once was an independent city on the other side of the Neckar river until the sprawling monster that Stuttgart became jumped the waterline and swallowed it into itself as another sub district. It is charitably known as a mulit-culti area and less charitably as Little Istanbul or Headscarf Village. In principle it is to Stuttgart what the Bronx is to new York City.

"Yup, my whole family lives there!" Probably all together in a two-room flat.

"Well, you better call them then; there's the bus station. I'll let you out here, okay? Be quick and get into that waiting room, it should be warm enough." You smile at him as you pull over.

"Yeah man, thanks for taking us with ya. Though I could've passed on the whole magical bullshit trying to murder me but whatever. Still going, eh?" He gives you a lopsided grin. "Though, hold on a squig. I totally owe you one. Gimme your phone number, ring me up anytime you need any help or somethin' special." A wink. "If you know what I mean." You don't know if you like what you know that he means.

"Must agree with potheads' words. You have done me great favor this night." While his friend gets out, the Russian leans forward and pulls open his jacket slightly. Somewhere in an inner pocket something metallic shines. You are pretty certain you recognize the shape. "Though my help is less enjoyment and more serious business." You feel the need to swallow. These are entirely unfamiliar worlds opening up to you.

After swapping phone numbers you wave them goodbye; just before you drive off the Turk leans into the car again however. He pulls out some sort of blue pendant on a little bit of nylon string and waves it in your face. To your question for what the hell that thing is he ties it to your rear mirror and explains:

"It's some kinda talisman, called nazar. It's supposed to protect against the evil eye, my granny tells me. You know, when people look at you with envy and hate and stuff. With all the magic shit going on I guess you're gonna need it more than I will." He spares your cars' insides a bemused look. "With all the baggage you've got."

True to form, now that it's emptied a fair bit your erstwhile passengers have spread themselves out far more comfortably than they did before; the two larger magical beings lounging on the back seat while the cluster of smaller ones freed from their prison underneath the passenger seat are all over the top side of it now.

You dimly realize that this is probably how kindergarten managers must feel like.

"Anyway, see you later bro!" he says, bumping your shoulder with his fist. "Get home safely." You wish him good luck and drive off.

******

Part with choices coming up soon. On Friday if things work out. Not proofread because IRC faggery. Also featured in this issue: Shits gettin' real yo.

>"It's some kinda talisman, called nazar. It's supposed to protect against the evil eye, my granny tells me. You know, when people look at you with envy and hate and stuff. With all the magic shit going on I guess you're gonna need it more than I will."

I actually remember those from living in Turkey for a couple of years. I usually saw them as a string of blue glass circles, each of which had a smaller white circle attached, then an even smaller blue circle with a painted black dot in the center to resemble an eye.

It should be good for warding off wild Parsees.

>Vicious Yamame
..........

>>26590
Eh, I like kind!Yamame too, but you shouldn't fault the writefag for trying to stick to canon.

>>26590
Eh, I like kind!Yamame too, but you shouldn't fault the writefag for trying to stick to canon.

>"Do you humans have invented a new toy now?"
Huh?

>>26590
I second your bafflement. Why'd Symposium have to screw with nicely established friendship levels?

>>26595
>Dakka dakka dakka
>>26589
You are correct! They are supposed to look like eyes, pic related.

I've got a question for you. I have a bit of exposition backed up by now, but I'm not certain on what to do. I could go the route of introducing a (few) new viewpoint(s) and give them to you guys first-hand or I could do the Bioshock thing and leave notes, audiologs/ diaries and folders full of data laying around. I'm unsure what to do but the latter would make this into a bit more of an investigative thing than the former. I'd like a little input on this from you if it's okay.

>Why'd Symposium have to screw with nicely established friendship levels?

ZUN, much like Joss Whedon, loves to take established fanon and go "HAHAHA no". It's not like most of the fandom gives two shits about canon anyways, though, so why should you care?

>>26596
Try doing both. I'd prefer the former, but it mostly gives only out-of-character knowledge, so the latter is valuable for being usable in the story.

>>26604
Well, the difference is that ZUN just as often incorporates stuff from established fanon into canon.

Like a lot of nicknames (Okuu, Daiyousei, Koakuma, China) or Utsuho's arm cannon being an arm cannon...or, heck, the game series becoming the "shrine maiden shooting game" series, thanks to PC-98-era fan reactions.

>>26605
And Satori's character model, no?

>>26591
People seem to forget that from the statements that Akyuu gets from people is that She is REASONABLE. (not something overly influenced by akyuu's opinion)