Final post for the story; a last word post before this thread gets locked up.
Continuing from previously...
"Me? I... don't know, either. Bickering with the shop owner of Kourindou was fun, I guess. But..."
"But what, Echo?"
"I... don't know. It feels like this place doesn't belong to us. Besides, I'm getting sick of being nowhere near a computer, and, though Kourindou carries a heck lot of modern equipment, it's nigh useless without basic electrical infrastructure."
"..."
The maiden of the Hakurei Shrine appeared, and waved at the remaining nine.
"Best of luck, Tode," Echo offered Todesengal. "With any luck we might even be seeing each other again; I've an agreement with Sakuya and we can pay you guys a visit when we're free. Besides, some of the villagers were interested in knowing the rules of soccer."
"Soccer?" Tode wanted to ask more, but then decided against it.
The maiden chanted a few spells, with which the remaining nine could see a clear link to Damonville. They were, however, rather hesitant to make the first step. An overly-cheerful thepianist plain saw nothing wrong and leaped right into the portal, screaming ZA WARUDO. Echo decided that since he'd decided on his decision, he should not be indecisive at such an obviously and importantly decisive moment.
"Step 1, through the portal..."
Immediately afterwards, Echo lost his footing and fell to the other side - on all fours.
"...step 2, fall on the floor like splat."
***
Day ?
Meridian Hotel Lobby
Approximately around 2:00 PM
The gang peered around. The Lobby didn't look half as fantastic as before. Debris littered around, bullets, magazines, even the odd helmet or two.
"God, what the hell is this?"
"Somebody shot up this place real bad."
Upon the mentioning of a shot-up place, everyone immediately remembered the moment the group were taken away to Gensokyo while Pasonia stayed on, fighting an onslaught of troopers. Some scrambled around the place, looking for any clues, while the rest dismissed Pasonia's possibility of survival for being as good as swatting a fly with bare hands.
It was then that Echo spotted a piece of paper attached onto a noticeboard nearby. It was rather obvious since the paper, on top of being blood-stained, was pinned onto the noticeboard, unlike the other notes which were simply stickied onto, and it said:
"I'm still out there. Don't miss me. Don't miss someone who's never 'existed'. Peace.
S.K. Pasonia"
*cue rolling credits as a fighter jet zooms past the town and a city-wide Public Announcement System repeating calls for survivors*
THE END