Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V
Title: Terror From Above
Character: Yuuri
Word Count: 1,371||Status: One-shot
Genre: GeneralRated: PG-13
Challenge: Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section C60, write an AU.
Notes: This is a wing!Au, where some characters (obviously) have wings. In this case, Yuuya, Yuuto, Yuugo, and Yuuri all have wings. But for the purposes of this fic, we only focus on Yuuri. This takes place a couple of months before the course of canon begins, during the early parts of the invasion of the XYZ dimension.
Summary: That's what they call him: the Terror From Above. Because he's one of Them. A Flyer. A Flyer who brings death and fear wherever he goes. And he so loves his work.

Wind caressed over and under Yuuri's wings as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop. He loved the feel of it against him; he would have to go for a proper flight once he'd finished tonight's games. If there was one thing that he loved more than chasing down silly little toys, it was circling in the wind under the moon and stars.

And as an added perk, if someone spied him doing so, it added to his reputation. He'd heard more than one rumor that he wasn't human at all, but a demon conjured up from the depths of hell.

He had to admit that his wings, bat-leather and pitch-black, did absolutely nothing to discourage that opinion. The only thing he disliked about it was that he hadn't come up with it himself. When people saw him coming for them, they screamed in such a delicious way and if they thought he was there for their souls and their lives, then so much the better.

Next time I'm in a new dimension, I think I'll see if I can spread that rumor myself. Yuuri did so love to terrify people. There were few thrills like that of seeing fear and terror on people's faces when he landed somewhere and they realized what was about to happen.

He leaned over the edge of the roof and peered downward. He wasn't chasing anyone in particular tonight, but was more after random terror and seeing if there was anyone worth putting in the effort of chasing down. Tomorrow night he would chase someone in particular. But that was tomorrow. Tonight was for his fun.

Nothing below. Boring. He stepped off the roof and let the wind catch his wings as he once more soared and circled.

Not many Fliers had wings like his, he mused as he slowly steered his way around. He could see other shapes in the distance that had to be Fliers as well, though none of them seemed interested in him as of yet. Most of those with wings had fluffy feather wings like birds. Perhaps a handful had ones like dragonflies or insects.

Less than a handful bore what he did, the wings of a bat. Or a demon. He liked the thought of demon-wings so much more than he did bat-wings.

The city here hadn't been that much affected by the first feelers of the invasion. Most people probably didn't even know it had happened yet. But they would soon enough. Yuuri would make certain of that himself when the time came, at least for some of them.

He was always so selective in his targets. He wanted those that would cause him the most amusement. Dennis had told him more than once that he was like a great cat, letting prey go just so that he could have the pleasure of hunting it down all over again.

Well, he's not wrong. Yuuri smiled at the thought as he came down on another rooftop and checked the area out. He could hear the sounds of dueling from the alleyway below and that always caught his attention.

The duelists below didn't notice him, but he didn't want them to just yet. He slid himself into a shadow cast by the buildings and watched. He could hear desperation in at least one of the voices below and since he hadn't caused it himself, he wanted to know what had.

One of the scouts for the Fusion army, it seemed, fought against someone from this dimension, using one of those XYZ monsters. Yuuri wanted to study those a little closer; the information would come in handy once he had a chance to duel. He hadn't yet; the invasion was still in the early days, getting to know the lay of the land and what sort of problems they'd have to face. Even his little excursion tonight was for those purposes.

Neither of the two below were Fliers, and those who couldn't fly seldom seemed to think to look up, so Yuuri doubted they would do so now, not when caught up in the passion of their duel. This wasn't a spectacular one at that; the scout had his opponent already on the ropes and it would soon be over.

I do hope this isn't the best that this world has to offer. He licked his lips. From what they'd learned so far, there were several duelists who stood a good chance of giving him the kind of fight he wanted. Perhaps not the fear that he so thoroughly enjoyed, but he would take pleasure in teaching them what it was to fear him anyway.

He wasn't at all surprised when the Fusion duelist defeated the XYZ duelist and he basked in the scream of terror as the latter's life points sank to nothing at all. Whether he'd caused it or not, the sound of pain, fear, and agony sounded like he'd always imagined ambrosia would taste. He wanted more of it. He wanted all of it.

More noises. A group of people appeared in the entryway to the alley, the Duel Disks of this world appearing as they realized what was going on. The Fusion scout fled at once, too outnumbered to consider staying. But Yuuri smiled. He'd looked forward to something like this.

"Hello there," he purred, stepping out from his concealment. "Would any of you care to duel me?" He truly did not care if they did or not, because what he really wanted was their reaction as he spread his wings as wide as they could go, their nature revealed as he moved into the light.

All of them stared up at him, eyes rounding with sharp and sudden terror. "It's him!" One of them shouted, pointing up. "The demon! I've heard about him!"

Yuuri smiled, a delicious slice of fear across his features. "Have you now?"

"My cousin called him the Terror From Above!" One of the others gasped, stumbling backward. "They say he eats your soul when you lose!"

I really do have to remember that. Yuuri dropped down from above to land in front of them, spreading his wings as he landed to make it even more impressive. "I am a little peckish," he said, grinning at them.

Only one of them stepped forward, head held high, fear still strong but this person fought past it. "I don't believe in demons," she said, eyes bright. "And even if I did, if you're a duelist, I'll fight you like that."

Oh, this was nice indeed. "Then let's do this." Under other circumstances he wouldn't have dueled but given chase. Tonight was not those circumstances. Tonight he wove fear in other ways and that included being the Terror From Above.

He really did like that. He would have to make certain more people knew about him by that name. He would start here, with making certain anyone who got out of this knew to spread the story about him as far and wide as it could be. The terror would only help with the invasion as well. Something for everyone.

His opponent's companions lurked by the alleyway, muttering among themselves as the two of them fought one another, each chipping away at the other's lifepoints. She wasn't as strong as others that he'd fought, but neither was she as weak as the one who'd been defeated here only moments earlier. In other circumstances, he thought she might've stood a decent chance at a mildly respectable Pro League career.

Of course that didn't mean she stood a chance at all in war, and Yuuri always fought as if he were at war, since he always was. And he only took prisoners in war when he absolutely had to. Tonight was not one of those nights.

Tonight, the Terror From Above, the demon-winged Flyer who sowed terror and chaos and fear wherever he roamed, defeated what would only be the first of many opponents in this world, and as the survivors fled screaming, he smiled, drinking all of it in before he once more took to the air and let the wind caress his wings and bring him the sounds of fear spreading far and wide throughout Heartland City.

The End

Note: Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the story. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.