>>21449 “Battle Formation
[Cartwheel Massacre]!”
Airplane-shaped danmaku were released and began encircling Letty, unleashing hell of bullets, bombs, torpedoes and suicide bombing at the Yuki Onna. Anne noticed that, unlike the last time, Shinano’s spellcard was fuelled with anger and desperation, and the aircraft carrier girl seemed all too eager to defeat her opponent.
“I found it!!” Shinano charged towards Letty, trying to tackle the woman. To her frustration, Letty blocked the tackle with the trident, and Shinano tried pulling back only to find herself stuck. “Urgh… let go off me!!”
“Watch, Anne,” Yukari uttered. “Watch what happens when Letty gets really serious.”
“Cold Sign
[Lingering Cold].” Not a moment too soon the bounded arena became full of snowflakes, and the temperature dropped so low Shinano’s airplane danmaku essentially froze in midair. Still keeping the flight deck connected to the trident Letty brought Shinano into the snowflakes’ trajectory and all hell broke loose as the snowflake danmaku bombarded the aircraft carrier girl from all directions.
The onslaught ended as fast as the snowflakes were melting. Letty let go off Shinano and just watched as the twin-tailed girl dropped into the lakeside. “One victory for me,” she spoke. “Surely you still have enough strength to continue this battle, right?”
“Never underestimate the might of the Imperial Japanese Navy.” Shinano quickly jumped back into the air. “I’ll make you regret this, Yuki Onna.” The flight deck transformed into a set of anti-aircraft guns and battleship cannons that got attached to Shinano’s arms; the rest of the component transformed into a pair of wings attached onto her back.
“「Death From Above」” Streams after streams of 40mm, 57mm and 16-inch rounds were fired, and Letty found herself in tight situation as the danmaku exploded around her. Shinano, then, proceeded to zip around the battlefield, constantly firing explosive danmaku at Letty’s position, trying to overwhelm the Yuki Onna with superior firepower. Some of the rounds exploded on contact with the lake’s frozen surface, while others that missed disintegrated on contact with the barrier. The ferocity of the battle could be felt by the inhabitants, as already several individuals started appearing near the barrier.
“What the heck is going on?” the not-amused Reimu demanded.
“Nothing very particular, Reimu dear,” Yukari spoke. “Just two women settling their problem on item possession. It should end anytime soon.”
“Mistress got angry at the noise and demanded that I assess the situation,” Sakuya spoke.
“She has to do it, hasn’t she?” Yuuka uttered.
“Seems like she is,” Yukari told her.
It was as if the spellcard duration would last indefinitely, as it had taken longer for Shinano to make it last. Her face was already showing signs of strain, and her aims were veering way off-course. Yet she had no intention of calling it quit, nor did she intend to win.
“Shinano, you have to stop!!” Yamato shouted. “You’ll hurt yourself if you keep using the spellcard!”
“Listen to us, Shinano!” Musashi pleaded. “We can visit Anne anytime you want! Just stop this already!”
The sisters’ pleas went unheeded. Shinano fired a shot from the 16-inch gun at Letty, and she fired another shell to be rode on as she headed straight at Letty. The manoeuvre caught Letty off-guard, and she wasn’t prepared to take the head-on tackle as the girl knocked her off the air. The Yuki Onna managed to regain her composure only to find herself in Shinano’s line of sight.
“I don’t care of the rules anymore,” Shinano murmured. “I don’t care of
anything! Just give Anne to me, and I’ll let you go.” Seeing Letty’s refusal to answer made the girl grin sadistically. “Well, I guess that means I have the authority to eliminate my enemy. Say your last prayer, Yuki Onna.”
“You won,” Letty uttered, almost as calmly as before. “I concede defeat. Now please take Anne and leave. You have what you want.”
“I won’t. Not until you disappear from my sight,” Shinano spoke. “Not until I see no traces of your existence. Like what they had done to my existence, I shall do the same to yours.”
“You have no idea of what you’re doing, Shinano,” Letty uttered. “You have no idea.”
Shinano’s eyes widened. “Then you die.
「Death From Above」”
In an instant Letty got bombarded by the girl’s weapons. The shockwave of the explosions did more than enough to dent the barrier as cracks started forming on the walls, and everyone could feel the intensity of the bombardment. When it was over a few seconds all they could see was only piles of snow and a crater.
“Bloody hell, is it over?” Reimu asked.
Yukari shook her head. “No, it isn’t. Look.”
All eyes followed the direction of Yukari’s fans, and they could not believe what they were watching. Kneeling in defensive posture, holding a shield in direction of the artillery bombardment was Anne. Nobody knew how she managed to get into the barrier, but it seemed she had managed to shield Letty from the attack.
“Are you alright, Letty?”
“Anne, your armour.”
She looked at the shield she had used. Its damage was too massive for the quick regeneration to take effect - in fact, it started to disintegrate and fall into the snow. “It’s just armour; I’ll get it fixed.” She rose on her feet and looked up at Shinano, whose face was showing a mixture of shock and disbelief. “Shinano. I appreciate your intention of becoming my friend, and I really hope our next meeting won’t have to be like this.”
“But.” She aimed the 88mm gun at the girl. “You have violated one of the main rules in the battlefield: you do not - I say it again, NOT - harm the enemy who has conceded defeat. As a fellow soldier, I’m disappointed in you.”
“Sh-shut up! You don’t know how I feel!” Shinano barked.
“I do, Shinano,” Anne uttered. “In fact, I know how you feel very much.”
“You… you vile!” Shinano opened fire, and Anne quickly took the brunt of the bombardment with the shield. She deployed the rest of the body armour to fuse with the shield and stood her ground, and amidst the confusion and chaos she still managed to ask Letty.
“Letty, remember when you said I must have my own reason?” She threw the Yuki Onna a smile. “I think I do now.” She jumped out of the protective shield and charged towards Shinano, armed with only the 88mm gun to protect herself from the spellcard.
“You… get away from me!!” In frantic Shinano fired a volley of 16-inch guns at Anne, yet the tank girl was moving too fast for her to take proper aim. She started panicking when Anne had jumped towards her, and before she could react the tank girl thrust the tip of the gun barrel onto her armour.
“Langrohrgeschütz
「Barrierendurchbohrer」!”
Round after round of high-explosive munitions shot through Shinano, each shot destroying each piece of the girl’s armour into smithereens. Her screams were drowned out in the thundering gun blast, which was also affecting Anne in some way. When the spellcard ended Shinano was hanging on the tip of the gun barrel, left only in her sailor uniform, torn in every place imaginable. She wasn’t allowed to speak as Anne pulled the gun barrel out of her torso, a gap left behind in the process, and she dropped limp into the frozen lake.
“It’s over…” Anne murmured and returned to the ground. Weakly she headed back to Letty, her face and body battered due to the artillery bombardment she had to endure, but she still managed to smile at the Yuki Onna. “It’s over, Letty. You don’t have to-”
“Anne! Behind you!”
The moment she turned around a gun turret was smashed onto her body, pinning her on a boulder. Shinano had resurfaced from the lake, and her frozen face contorted in an expression full of hate, anger, and envy. Her steps were uneven as she approached Anne, and her left arm looked as if it was going to detach from the shoulder. Oils and other fluids were flowing out of the chasm on her torso, bringing along vile stench of carbon and flesh.
“If I can’t get what I want,” the aircraft girl uttered, as dragging the flight deck across the ground with her undamaged arm, “then I’ll make sure nobody else will…”
Letty groaned. She had to stop Shinano from hurting (or killing) Anne but her time was running out, and her remaining strength was only barely enough to keep her presence. Outside the barrier Yamato and Musashi were begging Yukari to end the fight, saying that Shinano had reached the limit of her strength, and any more battle would spell the end for Shinano.
Shinano’s steps stopped dead on track when a wall of vines stood erect between her and Anne. “Where has your mannerism gone to, little girl?” Yuuka asked. “Seriously, have you taken no lesson on kindness?”
“I don’t know what your intention is,” Reimu uttered as she joined force with Yuuka, with sealing needles in hand. “But this must end now.”
“Mistress will not take this issue lightly, especially if she knows the future member of the Scarlet Devil Mansion is harmed,” Sakuya said.
“You’re alone, aren’t you?” Yuuka asked. “I know you do, because you wanted Anne for yourself, but that doesn’t mean you have to be selfish.”
“Shut up, all of you! Shut up!” Shinano cried. “You don’t know who you’re talking to!”
“Oh, I see you’re such a bigmouth.” Yuuka spun the parasol’s handle beneath her hand. “Girls, how about we show this little girl a lesson on who’s the real powerhouse in Gensokyo?”
“Do whatever you want, Yuuka,” Reimu shrugged. “I’m freezing out here already.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Sakuya said.
The three women turned their attention at Shinano. At once the aircraft carrier girl flinched and stepped back in terror. “What… what are you going to do?” Her question was ignored as Yuuka, Reimu and Sakuya walked towards the girl. She stumbled into the snow and was frozen in fear as the trio made their advance
“Please no!!”
A soft pat on her hand made Shinano freeze. She slowly lifted her head, and she could not believe what she was seeing. “It’s alright, Shinano,” Anne spoke as she kept patting Shinano’s hair. “It’s alright. You don’t have to be afraid.”
“Anne… Anne!!” Shinano flung herself onto Anne’s arms and cried bitterly on her. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you!!”
Letting out a weak laugh Anne turned towards the trio. “I thank you for your concern, but I can take care of this situation myself,” she spoke. “Shinano’s a victim of her own loneliness, just like I have been.”
“Huh, I didn’t expect to see this kind of ending,” Reimu sighed.
“How anti-climatic,” Sakuya commented. “But I suppose it’s for Anne’s own good, too.”
“All’s well and it ends well,” Yuuka spoke.
After a few minutes of cuddling Shinano Anne stood up, and she smiled at Shinano as she walked towards Letty. “Let’s meet Letty and apology to her, shall we?” Shinano just nodded and weakly held onto her. “We’ve made her overstay herself for too long, so…”
Her knees weakened. Anne shuddered, wavering on her feet, and a soft thud was heard as she fell into the snow. The commotion quickly got the attention of Letty and Shinano, as they had realized the extent of damage Anne’s body had endured throughout the battle.
“Anne? Anne! Wake up!” Panic struck Letty and Shinano as they were desperately trying to bring Anne back, and yet even with Yamato and Musashi helping she wouldn’t respond. “Oh, God! Anne, don’t die on us!
Anne! ANNE!!” You'd think it's over for Anne, wouldn't you Anon? 
