"How come your hair is purple?"
Yuri smiled, and absently lifted her hand from the reins she'd been holding, to drive her fingers through the chin-length locks on her head, newly cut from yesterday.
"To tell the truth, I do not actually know." She said, turning her head to face the young woman who'd asked the question, riding right next to her on a red mare, Embla. "Neither of my parents bore this particular shade, so I suppose it has to be some sort of genetic mutation."
"Oh, I see!" The girl replied, nodding her head vigorously, causing the curls of her own long, dirty-blonde hair to shake all around her.
She was dressed in much the same way as Yuri, meaning she was dressed in much the same way as every woman on this Island: plain, white dress and skirt, fully exposing their legs and arms, except near their wrists where the shiny, silver bracelets were worn, of course.
It had taken Yuri quite a while to get used to dressing herself this way, and had in the first few months of being here insisted on wearing her comfortable sweater instead, making her stand out even more than she already did with hair like hers. But now, after nearly six months of living on Themyscira, she finally felt comfortable enough among the other Amazons to wear these garments, and even took pleasure in how freeing it was to feel the slight breeze of the wind lightly caressing her skin.
"Uh, Sister Yuri?" The girl asked again. "What… is a 'jenehtick' mutation?"
"Laura, do not bombard Sister Yuri with your questions," came the stern voice from the older woman riding a few feet in front of them on her own majestic red stallion, Falki. "We are here to teach her horseriding, not interrogate her."
"S- sorry, mother!" Laura exclaimed, blushing and averting her eyes to the ground. "And, uh, deepest apologies to you too, Sister. It was not my intention to bother you!"
Yuri smiled, and reached out to gently pat the girl on the shoulder, making her look up.
"It is quite alright, Sister, I was not bothered in the slightest. If anyone should apologize, it is me. I have a tendency of forgetting to regulate my vocabulary, and thus use much too… modern words, in your presence."
Like Yuri, Laura and her mother Helena were migrants, having had their ship pillaged by pirates and getting forced to walk the plank only to wash up later on the shores of Paradise Island where they'd quickly been rescued and accepted into Amazon sisterhood.
Unlike Yuri however, this had all happened around the middle of the eighteenth century, the time period they'd been native to.
And here they were now as Yuri's horseriding teachers, both not looking a single day older than they'd been at the time of their arrival, having been kept young all these years by the magical immortality granted to all Amazons of Themyscira.
The same immortality now residing inside of Yuri.
"Oh, uh, I see!" Laura exclaimed in a highpitched voice, blushing even deeper at feeling Yuri's touch. "I am sorr- I mean, that is to say, I am not sorry! Wait, no, uhm… I am just going to… Ride behind you for now."
Yuri smile faltered a bit as she watched Laura stop her horse, and allowing Yuri to ride ahead of her, staring dead ahead of herself with an emotionless expression on her beet-red face, as if afraid she might spontaneously combust if she were to make even the slightest bit of eye contact with the purple-haired girl again.
Yuri had noted this kind of behavior from the girl for quite some time now, and thought she had a pretty good idea on the reasoning behind it. It was very reminiscent to how she'd acted herself when being around her own crushes, after all. It was… unusual, to actually be on the receiving end of it for once.
She hadn't said anything about it, preferring to let Laura go about these feelings of hers at her own pace. Then, once the girl gathered the confidence she would need to ask her, Yuri would of course let her down gently, telling her that she really wasn't looking to find love yet as she was still focusing heavily on finding herself on this Island.
The prospect of this upcoming day didn't stress her as she knew it probably would have a few months back. She knew Laura would understand since… everyone understood each other in this place. And it was not like it would be impossible for them to have something together at a later date. After all, they had the rest of eternity ahead of themselves.
"Uh, mother?" Yuri heard Laura's voice, etched with nervousness and unease. She looked behind her to see the girl having her head bent back, staring straight upwards with a downright fearful expression.
"What is it, Laura?" Helena called back.
"Th- there's something… strange!" Laura exclaimed, pointing up with a finger. "U- up in the sky!"
A large shadow quickly passed over them, and Yuri glanced up as well, squinting her eyes against the bright sun above to try to identify the source of Laura's worry.
However, once she took in the massive, black oval shape streaking rapidly across the skies above, she felt nothing but happiness and excitement. Her lips stretched into a wide smile as she watched the curved, slightly jagged, bat-like wings of the aircraft cleaving a lone cloud in half as it descended.
"By the Gods." Helena exclaimed breathlessly as she looked up and spotted the structure as well. "What manner of Dark Sorcery is this?"
I can hardly blame them. Yuri thought as she grasped the reins, and tugged to steer her midnight-black stallion, Markov, into the tree-strewn forest at her side to follow where the unique plane was headed. She usually arrives by boat.
"W- wait!" Laura called upon looking down again and noticing Yuri's steady departure from their group. "S- Sister Yuri! What are y- you doing?!"
"Do not worry, Sisters!" Yuri called after them with laughter in her voice as she encouraged Markov to pick up more speed, making him start galloping in and out between the trees. She'd just looked up again in time to notice the tiny, green comet soaring directly after the sleek jet, which made her heart leap in pure joy. "It is not black magic you're witnessing! They are my friends!"
After "parking" Markov, making sure he had all the shade, water and grass he would require, Yuri started making her way down the rocky cliff of the hill she'd arrived at, directly towards the sandy shores of the beach beneath where she'd tracked the Batwing's location to.
The sheer speed and endurance of her trusted, handpicked steed had caught even her off guard, as he'd actually managed to catch up to what she was sure was some of the best state-of-the-art jet engines money could buy, allowing her to be present when the black aircraft had landed.
As she climbed down the rock wall, she thought of how amazingly quick she'd gotten the hang of riding, especially when considering she'd never even seen a horse before arriving on the Island six months ago. In fact, she'd surprised herself with the amount of skills she'd picked up here that she never would have guessed she'd have the talents for.
Horseriding, archery, even combat. Things she never would have had the courage to try at home, preferring to stay in her comfort zones of reading and writing, and now, the Amazon teachers were singing her praises of how skillful a student she was! It was like this whole Island just had this way of bringing out the best in her!
This didn't mean she was suddenly perfect at everything, as she'd learned that disastrous evening when she'd attempted cooking, and managed to mix together something the chief chef had described as "flawless, if her intention had been to assassinate her fellow Amazons with poison." And although the Blacksmith had commended her for her ability to recognize good blade craftsmanship, the less said about her first and last weapons forging session, the better.
But she didn't let that bother her. It was unrealistic for her to expect to immediately be good at everything she tried, and with the endless love and support everyone showed her here, she quickly found a way to get over whatever failures and blunders she'd make.
Having finally reached what she deemed a safe enough distance down the cliffside, Yuri decided to save time by jumping the rest of the way down to the beach where the enormous, bat-shaped airplane could be seen.
Her feet never made contact with the sand floor however, as something small and fast streaked directly towards her like a missile, picking her up with strong arms in a mid-air bear hug, momentarily blinding her vision with pure, glowing green light.
"YuriohmygoshImissedyousomuchhowhaveyoubeenyoulookamazing!" A familiar, girly voice screeched at her from somewhere inside the bright wall of light, so intense that Yuri had to hold up a hand to shield her eyes from it. As if she was getting hugged by a miniature, green sun.
She'd all but forgotten how Sayori would get when she hadn't seen her friends in a while. With the amount of months they'd spent apart from each other, it was a wonder she wasn't currently blasting apart chunks of the Island itself in her excitement.
"H- hello, Sayori!" Yuri laughed, overwhelmed by her friend's aggressive greeting.
She felt herself being slowly lowered as the girl hugging her floated down. At last, she felt solid ground beneath her boots, and watched as Sayori's glow faded into a far more manageable brightness level.
She'd grown taller during these past six months, almost being at a direct eyelevel with Yuri herself at this point. Her hair, still as messy and strawberry blonde as always, had reached far down below her shoulders now, stopping somewhere just barely above her waist.
Her uniform had changed as well. She knew from the many messages she'd received from Sayori that the costumes worn by Green Lanterns weren't made of real fabric, and were more like light holograms projected by their rings.
Last time she'd seen Sayori, her costume had been very "standard," looking pretty much the same as the other Green Lanterns out there: a green onesie so tight it looked like it'd been painted on her body. Now though, the uniform was in the shape of an elegant, flowing dress, not like the terror Yuri had worn a year ago now, but more like a light sundress with plenty of frills, an actual back, and of course it was green rather than purple.
She looked like… a princess.
But even with this radical makeover, two things still remained the same. The wide, circular Green Lantern symbol was still positioned over her chest, and the glowing green bow-shape remained floating over the side of her head where her bright, blue eyes stared longingly at Yuri's, shimmering slightly as though she might burst into tears at this reunion any second.
Yuri smiled. Despite all this growing and glowing, it was still the same old Sayori in front of her.
"I am delighted and honored to finally be in your presence once more, old friend." Yuri said, bowing slightly, making Sayori giggle.
"Oh Christ, she's gotten even more Shakespearian since last time!" A high pitched voice announced from behind. "We have got to get her off this cursed Island as soon as possible, before she starts addressing everyone as 'thou.'"
Yuri tilted her head to look over Sayori's shoulder, where sure enough, Natsuki stood a few feet away, staring at them with crossed arms and a deep frown on her face.
The pink-haired girl had definitely embraced the billionaire lifestyle of the place she was living at, making sure to always wear a freshly laundered, expensive-looking black tuxedo whenever she visited, with shiny black shoes and a pink tie to match her vibrant hair.
Yuri thought it had to be awfully inconvenient for her, wearing all those layers of black on an Island as hot and humid as this, but she could guess the reason she was doing it- a power play, to showcase how superior and sophisticated she was in comparison to the "barbaric" and "primitive" Amazons.
Her body language told Yuri that she was perfectly aware of how much the outfit made her stand out in this environment, and couldn't be happier about it.
Yuri frowned herself, walking past Sayori briskly to approach the smaller girl, meeting her fierce stare head-on.
"My apologies." She said, in a dignified voice. "I should take more care to simplify my dialect for someone whose vocabulary mainly consists of swear words they picked up from rolling around the Gotham gutter all day long."
"I can think of a few swear words that'd describe you perfectly." Natsuki retorted, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.
"…guys?" Sayori asked in a concerned voice as she floated over to them, looking nervously between them as they stared each other down, neither of them breaking eye contact.
Natsuki's mask broke first.
"I've missed you, Yuri" She said, her lips stretching into a wide grin, revealing the tiny, but slightly longer than average tooth jutting out from the corner of her mouth like a small fang.
Yuri smiled too, and opened her arms to embrace her smaller friend in a hug.
"I missed you too."
"I am so confused right now." Sayori commented from the side, which made both of them erupt into laughter.
"Sorry Sayo." Natsuki said. "We get so few chances to trash talk each other nowadays, we gotta capitalize on the moments we get."
"Indeed." Yuri nodded solemnly. "How was my 'trash talk' attempt this time, by the way?"
"Eh, decent enough." Natsuki replied, waving her hand in an appraising manner. "You still have a long way to go if you truly wanna achieve the major 'bitch' level insults."
"I see. I shall continue to improve myself to one day achieve this glorious title." Yuri said, playing along with Natsuki's Natsuki-ness, before turning to look at Sayori again. "In all seriousness, it is great to see you again after so long. I really like your hair!"
Sayori beamed at her, literally.
"That's right! We've totally switched styles since last time we met! I hardly even recognized you with short hair!"
"Yours is seriously getting out of control, Sayori." Natsuki said. "I know Yuri cut hers to be a more effective warrior, but if I know you right, you've just forgotten to go to a hairdresser all this time!"
Sayori's face scrunched up as she blushed, and she pressed the tips of her fingers together, an obvious tell that Natsuki was absolutely correct.
"That's… t- totally not the case!" She exclaimed. "I just… like it long, is all. Meanie."
"And then there's you, Natsuki." Yuri said, reaching out to playfully ruffle up the girl's pink hair. "The exact same style, length, red ribbons and hairclip as always. You've truly remained the spitting image of that obnoxious little gremlin I've known since Kindergarten."
"Why mess with perfection, right?" Natsuki shrugged. "And I'll have you know I've grown at least an inch since last visit!"
All three girls laughed, and it was like no time had passed between them at all since they'd all been together at the very start of the Literature Club. Except things were easily so much better between them now, since even before all the power-stuff started going down, they'd all had their issues back then, making their friendship more strained. At the time, she hadn't even been sure if they were friends.
But after the hospital, a few visits from Natsuki, some heartfelt apologies, admissions of truth and plenty of cupcakes, she'd at long last gained the clarity that of course they were friends.
"So." Yuri asked, when the laughter died down. "Any news I should hear about from the outside world? I'd love to know how Jon and Damian are faring!"
Natsuki flashed her a mischievous smile.
"Well, we could tell you." She said. "But wouldn't you prefer asking them yourself?"
"W- what?" Yuri exclaimed, and watched in confusion as Natsuki ran over by the Batwing, pressing a button to open the cockpit.
For a split second, Yuri feared her friend might have thrown all care to the wind regarding Themyscira's rules and brought the two boys with her in the Batwing. She told herself that even Natsuki wouldn't be that disrespectful, but then again… it was Natsuki…
Thankfully, her worries were eased the moment Natsuki climbed up, rummaged around the passenger seat for a bit before triumphantly holding up a flat, tablet-looking device in her hand.
"Got it!" She exclaimed, and turned her head towards Sayori. "You ready?"
"For sure!" Sayori nodded, raising her Ring. "I'd take a few steps back, Yuri."
Yuri obeyed, walking backwards as long, shimmering green metal shapes started materializing around the girl, stacking themselves on top of each other, growing ever taller until Yuri was looking in astonishment at the newly erected, transparent cell tower placed in the sand dunes of Paradise Island.
"S- surely not…?" Yuri breathed, craning her head to make out the full details of the technological achievement.
"T- turns out, I can m- make Wi-Fi!" Sayori said in a strained, but proud voice.
Natsuki had reappeared by Yuri's side, idly pressing the screen of her tablet, smiling.
"Don't worry, it won't be permanent. We wouldn't want to ruin the society built here by introducing the Amazons to websites like Fanfiction dot Net." She said. "It's working, by the way! We have a signal!"
"G- great!" Sayori said, flashing a shaking thumbs up. "Y- you better g- get going. I'm n- not sure for how long I can k- keep this up. There's a lot of small individual components I need to concentrate on t- to keep this signal g- going!"
Natsuki patted her arm, and Yuri squinted her eyes to make out the screen over the shining sun above. It appeared to be some kind of chat room app, bearing two icons of boys she immediately recognized despite not having seen them in half a year, both with a green dot beneath to show their online status.
Her heart began pounding wildly in her chest as Natsuki started teasingly circling the videocall button with her thumb.
"Shall I?" She asked.
Yuri closed her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath as she tried to compose herself.
I can do this. I'm not the same as I was back then, and that wasn't even me to begin with. They are my friends, and I can talk to them without getting obsessed again.
She opened her eyes again, and exhaled.
"Please." She said, and Natsuki pressed the button.
A few seconds passed as the screen showed it was currently calling, and then the screen was filled up by the round, smiling, messyhaired face of Jon Kent, waving at her from what appeared to be his room. She still had trouble believing Sayori when she'd told her this boy was the son of Superman himself.
"Hey there, Yuri!" His voice blasted through the speakers, sounding exactly like he had at the Club. "It's good to see you again."
She couldn't prevent the tear from trickling down her eye, as she struggled to formulate a reply.
"H- hi, Jon!" She managed. "S- same to y-"
Her greeting was suddenly interrupted as the screen split into two, and Yuri's heart nearly stopped as Damian's face took up the other half, looking more angry than she'd ever seen him before as he scowled directly into his camera with intense, green eyes.
"Natsuki, I TOLD YOU the Batwing was OFF LIMITS!" He immediately exclaimed. "You KNOW you're not qualified to fly it yet, we might need it for missions, and you had NO RIGHT taking it!"
He flashed Yuri a sideways glance.
"Greetings Yuri, I hope you're well over there. Now, Natsuki, if I find so much as a SINGLE SCRATCH on the Batwing when you get back, you are going to explain to Father YOURSELF how…"
Yuri breathed a sigh of relief when Natsuki subtly pressed a button to mute Damian's part of the screen, letting him scold himself in silence and free them to talk to Jon instead. She sent a quiet, grateful prayer of thanks to both Natsuki and Sayori for giving her this opportunity today.
"So… it's a romance novel?" Yuri asked, inspecting the magazine Natsuki had just handed her (she had difficulties referring to it as an actual "book" in her mind) with the cover showcasing four very vibrant girls striking a pose.
"Well sure, that's the general premise." Natsuki replied, taking a bite of one of the cupcakes she'd pulled out of the Batwing's cargo a few minutes before to share. "Parfait Girls markets itself as just another standard high-school teen dating manga on the surface, but then once you get further into the chapters it kinda just flips everything on its head. Not gonna spoil the twists, but there's actually a bunch of really dark stuff in it as well that I think someone like you'd really enjoy."
"I… see." Yuri said, raising an eyebrow. She had trouble seeing how on earth a book with a cover as pink and glittery as this could ever intrigue her.
"Just give it a chance, alright?" Natsuki encouraged. "Yeah, the first couple of chapters are a bit fluffy, and I don't think any prologue deserves to be that long, but once you get past all of that, you'll start really having fun with these characters. There's also a bunch of really clever fourth wall breaks."
"Ihf don'f lihf hourf hall bheks." Sayori commented, her cheeks bulging as she tried fitting two cupcakes inside her mouth at once.
"You… wanna run that by us again, chief?" Natsuki asked, rolling her eyes.
With a downright Herculean effort, the Green Lantern managed to swallow.
"I don't really like fourth wall breaks." She repeated. "Feels like the author tries too hard to wave at the reader to show how funny and clever they are, and it just really takes me out of the story."
"Your Ring is covered in frosting, Sayori." Natsuki pointed out, and Sayori looked down with wide eyes at her now Pink Lantern Ring, which she then proceeded to lick clean in excitement.
"I shall give it a chance." Yuri said, carefully placing the manga on a rock to her side and making a mental note to bring it back home with her.
"Yes!" Natsuki exclaimed triumphantly, extending her arm to fist bump the air. "I guarantee I'll turn you into a weeb by the end of the year!"
"Would you like to borrow one of the Ancient Greek mythology collections from the Themysciran library in exchange?" Yuri asked. "Now that you got me expanding my horizons?"
"So, Sayori, that cell tower huh? That was really cool of you." Natsuki immediately changed the subject, whipping her head over to the still licking Sayori and thus ignoring Yuri's question.
Yuri suppressed a sigh.
"Huh?" Sayori said, looking up distractedly, her tongue still extended from her mouth. "Oh, right. I got some help from Damian on what went into making a signal, and then my Ring repeated the instructions as I made it. These cupcakes taste so good after maintaining a thing like that for two hours, by the way."
Sayori reached out to grab her fourth cupcake at this point.
"My apologies for the extended conversation." Yuri said. "It just… felt so wonderful, to finally talk to everyone from the old days again."
To her surprise, Sayori seemed to frown at her words, and even put down her cupcake again.
"Something wrong?" Yuri inquired.
Sayori hesitated, before answering.
"Almost everyone." She said. "You talked to almost everyone from the old days today."
Natsuki cringed heavily from her side, closing her eyes.
"Smooth transition, Sayo. Great job."
"I… I don't get it." Yuri said, looking between the two girls, confused. Neither of them were smiling now.
"I… actually wanted to ask you something today, Yuri." Sayori said, quietly. "Just… just promise you won't get mad, okay?"
Yuri could feel the light, fun atmosphere from before draining away, being replaced by thick tension. Her heart started beating faster.
"I could never get angry at any of you, Sayori. You're my friends." She said, mentally preparing herself for anything. "Please, ask all you want, I promise I can handle it."
Surely they don't still think that I'm as fragile as I used to be?
Sayori still hesitated for a bit too long before opening her mouth once more, and spoke up with a barely audible voice.
"How… How would you feel about if, uhm. If next time I come visit, I brought... Monika, with me?"
Yuri's heart actually skipped a beat as mental images of shimmering silver metal, dripping scarlet liquid and glowing green eyes started flashing through her head at lightning speed. The chill going down her spine made it painfully obvious that she hadn't been prepared for this at all.
She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. She could hardly breathe. She could only sit there in the sand, staring dead-eyed at Sayori who'd averted her own eyes, face blushing.
"Yuri? Are you okay?" Natsuki asked, deep worry in her voice.
There was silence for a few seconds where the only sounds audible were the waves crashing against the shore, as Yuri tried to quickly re-assemble her shattered mental state once more.
Finally, she managed to stretch her lips into a strained smile.
"I- I'm s- sorry." She said, noting to her eternal regret that her hated stutter had returned once more. "I- I'm s- still getting used t- to recognizing this b- brand of humor."
"She's… not joking, Yuri." Natsuki said quietly.
Yuri wanted to laugh long and hard, and tell Natsuki to stop being so silly already, of course Sayori was joking. There was no way the girl would actually say something as-
Evil.
-RIDICULOUS as that and actually mean it?!
"Look, I… I know what she did to you. To us. But…" Sayori began.
"She tried to KILL us!" Yuri exclaimed, having had enough of this joke already. Sayori needed to stop dragging it out so much, it wasn't funny anymore!
"I know, but-"
"She made me lose my mind! Literally!" Yuri interrupted her, voice raised as if she could erase what Sayori was saying if she just yelled loudly enough. "Every second we spent together, she kept feeding into my obsessions, my desires! In the end, I couldn't even breathe without cutting myself because of her!"
"Yuri, trust me, I know, but-"
With a muted howl of frustration, Yuri began tearing at the straps of her silver bracelets, loosening the bonds to take them off. Sayori said she knew, but she didn't. If she truly did know, she wouldn't even be considering suggesting what she had. But this would show her. This would make her understand.
"She did this to me." Yuri whispered, showing off her bare arms to her friends.
With the bracelets concealing them gone, faded white scars could now be seen littering every available surface of her forearms, hundreds, maybe even thousands of cuts crisscrossing each other, without a single area of smooth skin larger than that of a finger tip.
Upon arriving on the Island, Wonder Woman had taken her straight to a very strange, almost lamp-like device as the first order of business.
She'd explained that it was an ancient Amazon relic, the magic within it being able to cast a ray capable of healing almost any injury it touched. She'd turned it on, and Yuri had looked on with wide eyes as warm, purple light bathed her arms until they stopped shaking from the nerve damage even the hospital hadn't been capable of fixing.
She knew that if she'd stayed under the light for long enough, all the scars would have eventually faded into nothingness, but she'd insisted on keeping them visible. Not as a way to admire them anymore, she thought they looked uglier than anything else now, but as a way to remember how she'd gotten them, and never repeat those actions ever again.
Reluctantly, Sayori and Natsuki both looked upon her arms, their expressions nauseous as they took in the sickening scars.
She was satisfied by their reactions. They were meant to feel disgusted by the sight.
"She did this to me" Yuri repeated in a low voice, slowly trailing a finger over her arms, feeling the jagged, uneven surface of her own flesh. "I made the poor decision to make the first few cuts, yes. But Monika made it so much worse."
"She-" Sayori gulped, trying without success to peel her eyes away from the scars. "She was in a bad headspace herself, and-"
"She made me stab Natsuki, and you want to bring her here-" Yuri began, but in that moment, it was like something snapped in Sayori.
"I know! I know everything she did to us all!" Sayori said, her voice raised to be just on the brink of yelling. "I am perfectly aware of every single thing she put us through, you don't have to list them all, I know! God Yuri, she made me hang myself! Don't you think I get it?!"
Yuri had never seen Sayori this passionate about something before. She didn't even think she'd ever heard her raise her voice previously.
"If anyone would be justified in hating her, it would be me! But I can't. I've tried, but I just can't. She was sick, Yuri. She had a mental illness, unwillingly gained powers and had to use them in order to survive, which just screwed her head up even more. And she regrets everything! Believe me, I've been visiting her as much as I can, and I know that however much you might hate her for what she did, it's nothing compared to how much Monika hates herself."
Yuri stared Sayori dead in the eye, feeling her heart pounding out of her chest.
"If that was truly the case, Monika would have killed herself on day one." She stated, matter-of-factly.
She regretted her words as soon as they'd left her mouth and realized just who she was talking to. Her anger was immediately replaced by guilt once she saw Sayori start rubbing her throat tenderly.
"I- I'm sorry." Yuri gasped. "I d- didn't mean-"
"She would have, if I'd let her." Sayori said, quietly.
"What?"
"You weren't there for this." Sayori explained, closing her eyes. "It was back at the Literature Club, after Wonder Woman carried you off to the hospital. I was sitting with her, the Lasso of Truth wrapped around us to remove the mental barriers Monika had put on herself. She was completely broken, Yuri. She couldn't stop crying, couldn't do anything about the terrible guilt she felt, knowing what she'd done to us. And then… and then she s- said…"
Sayori sniffled.
"…she said she j- just wanted to die, Yuri. Said that as soon as she got the c- chance, she'd find some way to kill herself, as a- as a way to 'make up' for what she did, and e- end the nightmare."
Tears were streaming down Sayori's face at this point, and Natsuki moved over by her side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I told her… I told her 'don't you dare.' I- I got so angry with her at that moment. I had forgiven her, but the thought of her thinking she could just do something like that as if it would make up for anything… it made me so mad. I told her that if she had any decency left in her, she would stay alive to face the consequences of her actions, instead of escaping like a c- coward. That it's the least she could do after what she did to me. To us."
Yuri raised a hand to her open mouth in shock, completely speechless. She couldn't even imagine Sayori, sweet, happy Sayori, saying something like that to anyone.
"I t- tried a- apologizing afterwards d- during my first v- visit, but M- Monika told me that s- she deserved it, " Sayori started again, her voice hard to make out through the stuttering and tears. "A- and she t- told me it actually h- helps her get through the d- days in the Asylum, thinking of that. T- the Doctors say that her m- mental health has g- greatly improved, and s- she's even being a good influence on the other patients!"
"Sayori…" Yuri said softly, approaching her crying friend.
"I- I'm not s- stupid." Sayori sniffled. "I- I know things c- can't ever go back t- to how they used t- to be. B- but… don't e- everyone deserve a s- second chance?"
Yuri moved forward at the same time as Natsuki, both of them embracing Sayori in a massive group hug, neither of them saying a word.
They didn't know what to say.
"…and Damian still won't let me have that hero name you suggested!"
"What?! But 'Bat-Suki' is literally perfect!"
"I know, right?!"
Yuri rolled her eyes silently as she listened to Natsuki and Sayori's idle chatter, walking slightly behind them.
After finishing their cupcakes, Natsuki had decided to put a temporary stop to the uncomfortable tension that had arisen by suggesting giving Sayori a tour of the Island. Something Yuri had only been too happy to oblige, needing an excuse to keep her mind off Monika, and to bring Markov back to the stables.
And now here they were again, walking along the white sand dunes of the beach, bathed in the orange glowing rays of the sun which was beginning to set as they approached the sleek, black Batwing parked in the sand a few hundred meters ahead of them.
"He has this really dumb argument for it, too." Natsuki kept going. "Something about it being 'bad' for my 'secret identity,' since it 'only replaces one letter of my real name!'"
She raised her fingers to make air-quotes at Damian's lines, and made her voice even more highpitched than it already was to mock the current Robin.
"But that's why it's so good!" Sayori exclaimed, and they continued discussing the brilliance of the name and how ignorant Damian was for not allowing it, with Yuri only half-listening.
Yuri thought she knew Natsuki well enough now to recognize when the girl's arguments weren't being serious, and merely overplayed them for comedic effect. At least, she hoped they both realized why 'Bat-Suki' wasn't a viable name for anyone.
Then, as they reached the Batwing, their conversation ceased when Sayori turned to face Yuri. Hesitantly, the Green Lantern girl lifted her head to meet Yuri's eyes.
"I'm… sorry, Yuri. For what I asked before. I didn't mean to stir up old trauma."
"Nonsense." Yuri dismissed, smiling meekly. As they'd walked around the Island and enjoyed each other's company, her anger and shock had eventually faded away completely. "You don't need to apologize for attempting to reunite your friends. I actually greatly admire that ability of yours, to forgive people no matter what, even if I think the thing you're proposing seems so… outlandish. If anything, really, it is me who should apologize for reacting as strongly as I did."
"Yeah, you made Sayori cry." Natsuki commented. "Pretty sure that's like, punishable by federal law."
"Oh, shut up Nat!" Sayori laughed. "I'm not some snowflake who can't take care of myself!"
"You're right, not a snowflake." Natsuki nodded. "A 'cinnamon bun' is definitely more fitting."
"Fuck off!" Sayori laughed, making Natsuki release an over-the-top gasp at hearing her swear.
They all laughed at this for a few seconds, before Sayori got back to the subject at hand.
"I won't bring Monika over here unless you're a hundred percent okay with it." She promised firmly. "Have… have you thought about the idea?"
Yuri sighed. Although she had been trying to push it out of her mind on their trip, she hadn't been able to completely stop considering the proposal.
"I'm… just not sure." She admitted. "It's a… difficult dilemma."
"It'll take a while to make it happen, if you say yes." Sayori said. "I'll need to get the Asylum's approval for a full day trip, and then I have to wait for a day off from patrolling my Sector. It'll be months, at the very least."
"I'll… think about it." Yuri said. "Maybe you can ask me again the next time you visit?"
"Okay." Sayori said, smiling brightly. She didn't push the topic any further, which Yuri was grateful for.
They moved forwards, into a tight hug, before separating. Yuri glanced at the horizon, taking in the steadily descending sun.
"It is getting quite late in the day." She said. "You two better head home before it gets dark."
As expected, Natsuki's response was immediate.
"I hope you don't think you can chicken out by hoping I'd forgotten?"
"Oh, I would never stoop to presume such things." Yuri said, smiling as she stretched her arms, cracking her knuckles in the process. "I merely commented on the time to remind you that if we were still to do this, now would be appropriate."
"Wait, what's going on?" Sayori asked, looking between them with a confused look on her face as Natsuki began unbuttoning her tuxedo. "W- why are you taking your clothes off?"
"Me and Yuri have established something of a tradition, whenever I come visit." Natsuki said, folding up her expensive black jacket, and placed it on a rock before reaching up to remove her pink tie. "I guess if you wanna be polite about it, it can be described as 'comparing our training.´"
"I believe it started a few months back." Yuri said, lifting her long legs one at a time from behind, continuing her stretching. "Natsuki had made the claim that if Wonder Woman and Batman's powers were equalized, Batman would be able to beat her since 'his training is superior to that of the Amazons.'"
"Yuri then disagreed, saying that Batman and his allies all rely on stealth tactics and gadgets to gain the upperhand in their battles." Natsuki said, now wearing her thin white shirt as she too began stretching her body, bending down to touch the sandy ground with her fingers. "Whereas Amazons fight with honor out in the open, without needing 'toys or dirty tactics' to win, as she put it."
"A point which Natsuki demonstrated perfectly last time when she threw sand in my eyes right as I was close to winning." Yuri said, smirking at the frustrating, but amusing memory.
Natsuki smiled right back at her, meeting her eyes.
"I've improved since last time we did this."
"As have I." Yuri said.
"W- wait." Sayori stuttered, and Yuri could see from the corner of her eye that her skin had gone pale. "Y- you're going to f- fight?!"
"Indeed." Yuri answered, not taking her eyes off her pink-haired opponent for even a second.
"Wanna join in?" Natsuki asked Sayori. "To prove your worth? Surely, Green Lanterns get special training as well, and don't rely purely on that Ring."
"I- I don't wanna hurt my friends!" Sayori gasped, sounding shocked.
"It is merely a friendly sport." Yuri said, reassuringly. "A weaponless round of combat, to determine whose training is really superior. That is, if Natsuki can refrain from hiding any Batarangs up her sleeves."
"Yeah." Natsuki said, winking at Sayori. "C'mon Sayo, you're a Green Lantern now. How do you expect to go on Superhero team-ups if you can't do the obligatory 'fight to settle our differences' first?"
"Uhhh…" Sayori said, beads of sweat visible on her forehead as she looked between the two, clearly uncomfortable.
"I would be honored to test my skills against the warrior who fought Wonder Woman to a standstill." Yuri said.
Sayori slowly raised her hand with the Ring to her ear.
"W- what's that, Ring?" She asked, her voice making it almost painfully obvious that no one was actually speaking to her. "L- Larfleeze is attacking M- Mogo? Y- you need all Lanterns on d- deck?"
She lowered her hand again, and flashed Yuri an apologetic and very unconvincing smile.
"Sorry guys, I guess duty calls! Gottagoseeyoubyyyeee!"
Like a rocket, she shot up into the sky, disappearing from view after a couple of seconds.
"Worth a shot." Natsuki shrugged, and Yuri sighed. "Well, wanna get started?"
Yuri glanced back at her, and flinched upon seeing the girl's sleeves rolled up, exposing a part of the white scar placed at a spot just below her left shoulder blade.
"I- I'll never get used to seeing that scar." She said, guilt in her voice as she gestured at the healed wound. "Or the knowledge that I was the one who inflicted it."
Natsuki glanced downwards, unconcernedly.
"You weren't in your right mind when you snuck up on me. It's my own fault for not paying better attention to my surroundings." She shrugged.
Then, she smirked, reached into her pocket and put on a pink Robin mask over her eyes as a finishing touch.
"Think you can give me another one while I'm actually trying?" She challenged.
Yuri smiled back.
"You know, putting on a mask like that before a fight could be viewed as a form of dissociative identity disorder."
"Is that so?" Natsuki asked. "Well then Yuri. I hope you don't mind getting your ass kicked by a girl with a mental illness."
Yuri scoffed, and raised her fists.
"May the best trained win." She stated.
"Oh don't worry. I intend to." Natsuki retorted and shot through the sand, rushing her.
She was fast, Yuri would give her that. She barely even had time to react and raise her arms to block the blows from Natsuki's fists, coming at her with such rapid-fire speed that she was essentially forced on the defensive, too busy dodging and moving backwards to land a hit of her own.
The pink-haired girl's moves were ferocious, but Yuri wasn't overly worried. As part of her Amazon training, she'd learned to block arrows flying right at her with the bracelets, so Natsuki wasn't about to penetrate her defenses. In fact, by exerting this much energy at the very start of battle, the girl was guaranteed to tire herself out soon enough, leaving her susceptible to a finishing blow.
She moved to take another step back, but was stopped when her foot caught on something hard, and solid. Despite her better judgment, she glanced down for a split second where she saw the large rock jutting up from the sand that she'd unknowingly been steered towards.
Her moment of distraction was all Natsuki needed to place a devastating fist directly in Yuri's solar plexus, making her bend over involuntarily to gasp for air and thus allow the smaller girl to land a kick across her lowered face.
Cursing her own carelessness, Yuri blindly swung out an arm, noting with satisfaction the dull impact followed by an outcry of pain, which indicated a successful hit on her target. She took this opportunity to quickly sprint a few meters in the opposite direction, desperately needing a few seconds of recuperation.
As her vision returned, she could see Natsuki still standing by the rock, clearly working to catch her breath as well, as evidenced by her rapidly rising shoulders. She was rubbing at a seemingly sore spot on the side of her head, which Yuri guessed had to be where she'd managed to hit her, but apparently she wasn't in that much pain, as seen from the wide, punchable smirk stretched across her lips.
Gingerly, Yuri wiped the front of her face, and noted with frustration the red liquid from her nose, faintly visible in the dim sunset, now smeared across her fingers.
Natsuki hadn't been lying when telling how she'd improved since last time. Yuri had underestimated her skills, and allowed her to draw first blood.
"You having fun over there? Figured I'd let you get some space to properly enjoy my gift. Y'know, seeing how you get all hot and bothered over pain." The girl yelled, sounding even more insufferably smug than usual.
"I see. How very generous of you." Yuri retorted hoarsely.
The thing was, as tactlessly as Natsuki had put it, she wasn't wrong. But not entirely right, either.
It was true that being here, doing this, locked within rough combat against a worthy opponent filled her body with electrifying excitement and adrenaline, a state she imagined most other people would experience if they were in her situation.
What probably wasn't the case of other people however, was how Yuri felt the pain that came with it. Or rather, how she didn't feel it.
Getting punched and kicked hadn't hurt her at all, aside from a slightly bruised ego. It wasn't that she couldn't feel any sensation across her face at the moment, it just… didn't hurt. For lack of a better description, it was… actually kind of pleasant.
Not anything like what Natsuki was implying with her taunting, Gods forbid. It was just… feeling the blood trickling down past her lips, tasting it, learning from the mistake that had caused it and becoming a better warrior in the process… it was exhilarating.
She didn't know if it was something with her nerves, or an abnormality in her brain, or what exactly made her feel this way. It didn't really matter. She just knew that it made her feel alive and happy to be alive. And as living with the Amazons had taught her, fighting was a much better outlet to achieve that feeling than just mindlessly dragging a blade through her own flesh. Now, she could actually feel a sense of pride over the scars she gained.
She wiped most of the nosebleed away with a sweeping arm motion.
"You really adore that move, don't you?" She said, seeking to distract Natsuki while she caught the rest of her breath and thought up a new strategy.
"Yeah, I'll admit kicking folks in their faces holds a certain sentimental value for me." Natsuki replied, shrugging. "Damian says I need to ease up with it and work on something less 'flashy' but hey, if it ain't broke, right? You good to start again now?"
"Yes." Yuri said, and moved forward to face her opponent head on.
She knew she had the advantage in this battle, being bigger, heavier and thus stronger than Natsuki, but that didn't exactly help if she could never land a hit. The pink-haired girl kept dancing evasively around her, constantly looking for an opportunity to strike. All Yuri could do in this situation was keeping her guard up, dodge when necessary, and make sure Natsuki didn't lure her into another trap.
She paid close attention to Natsuki's body, focusing on her movements, awaiting the moment she would slip up.
"So, what are your thoughts on this 'Monika' thing Sayori is proposing?" She asked in a casual voice, blocking a sneaking kick aimed for her calf. She was hoping that dividing Natsuki's attention across the fight and a conversation would be enough to make her lose the focus, as well as just honestly wanting to know her answer.
"If I'm being completely honest?" Natsuki replied, ducking away from one of Yuri's high kicks. "I've been visiting her on about a bi-weekly basis since you went away. First few times, I just kinda yelled at her for an hour before leaving again. Y'know, calling her an idiot, saying she deserved being in that nuthouse, the classic 'Natsuki' treatment."
"I see." Yuri replied, smirking slightly at the mental image as she moved out of the way from a flying highkick. "That must have been entertaining for you."
"Oh, it was awesome. She just sat there in silence, wearing her blindfold, forced to take everything I threw at her without even trying to talk back." Natsuki said, smiling to herself at the memory. "I fully planned to do the exact same thing at every future visit."
"But?" Yuri prompted.
Natsuki sighed deeply as she effortlessly backflipped away from Yuri's extended fist.
"It's just… it got old, real fast. Coming in to the Asylum every other week, railing on this girl who hurt us, knowing she wouldn't make any attempt to fight back and just take it. There's only so many times I can call someone a psycho bitch with them fully agreeing before it becomes stale. It started feeling like I was just kicking a puppy for the sake of kicking a puppy, so… I started actually talking to her instead."
Yuri gave a slight snort as she adjusted her stance, putting a swift end to Natsuki's attempt at bringing her off balance.
"A 'puppy' isn't exactly the type of animal I'd associate Monika with."
"I know it sounds really strange." Natsuki admitted, circling around Yuri with an appraising look in her eyes, scanning for weaknesses. "But Sayori was actually right. Monika has become a depressive, guilt-ridden shadow of her former self, and believes she 100% deserves everything bad coming her way. And like, she does, but it's still pretty sad to see."
"Do you believe meeting her here would be a good idea?" Yuri said, circling around herself to keep watch, awaiting Natsuki's next movement.
"Personally, I don't have a problem with it. With my training, I'm confident I can kick her teeth in the moment her eyes so much as spark green, and you can probably do the same. And even if she manages to surprise us, there's literally nothing she could do against Sayori. But… it doesn't really matter what I think, since I was the one least manipulated by her. Really, it's up to you!"
Natsuki made her move, rushing across the sand, straight towards Yuri, who saw it coming and prepared herself mentally to meet the girl's attack in the form of a well-placed kick to her face.
But at the last second, Natsuki swerved to Yuri's side instead, where she started poking light jabs into her arm.
Yuri was momentarily confused by this bold, seemingly foolish strategy. All the girl had accomplished was putting herself within clear striking distance in favor of hitting a non-vital part of her body with punches so light Yuri doubted even a person with normal pain receptors would register them at all.
If this was part of some masterplan from Natsuki's side, Yuri couldn't see it. She raised her other arm, and whacked Natsuki across her face hard, causing the smaller girl to cry out and retreat again.
"What on Earth was that?" Yuri asked, smiling in mild amusement as she watched Natsuki rubbing the inflamed cheek where she'd been struck. "You must have realized such an obvious attack would be entirely fruitless against me!"
Then, to her surprise, Natsuki's face lit up with a bright smile.
"Oh, I don't know about that." She said, and gestured over at Yuri. Specifically, at her side. "I think rendering one half of your arsenal useless was a pretty fair trade."
Confused, Yuri lifted her right arm only to make the shocking discovery that… she couldn't. It remained limp, dangling by her side, completely unresponsive to any commands.
What?!
Her heart racing, she used her left hand to grab the limb firmly, discovering that the touch of her fingers on the skin didn't even register at all, as if she was holding some detached tentacle from some other creature, and not her own flesh. She tried clenching her hand into a fist, tried twitching her fingers, tried making it move at all on its own accord- but nothing happened.
"What did you do?" She breathed heavily, looking up at Natsuki as if never truly seeing her before now. The pink-haired little brat appeared to be at her most self-satisfied yet.
"I can't believe it actually worked!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands together in child-like excitement. "I only just started learning about pressure points a few days ago, and I've never been able to do it to Damian or any of the other Bats!"
She released a small giggle as the horror of the situation started dawning on Yuri.
Those randomly placed jabs… they weren't random at all! They were placed with precision!
"Don't worry, your arm will only be paralyzed for about ten minutes." Natsuki said, and moved into attack formation. "More than enough time for me to finish this!"
She started rushing again with renewed fervor. Yuri's body operated on instinct, automatically backing away.
But she wasn't fast enough.
Natsuki came at her like a bullet, kicking and punching with all of her strength. Yuri managed to block and dodge with her remaining functional limbs, but when the girl started targeting her right side, there was nothing she could do to avoid getting hit.
Natsuki's strikes weren't forceful enough to pack that much of a punch, but she knew exactly where to place them in order to cause maximum damage and tire out Yuri as much as possible.
Not only that, but her incapacitated arm was proving to be much more of a problem than expected, dangling uselessly with every movement, bringing her off balance. And when Natsuki would attack as quickly as she did, Yuri's muscle memory would betray her by actually trying to block with the useless appendage, thus delaying her reaction times by half a devastating second.
Slowly but surely, little by little, Natsuki chipped away at her defenses, refusing to stop until Yuri would be whittled down to nothing.
"Y'know, there's no shame in giving up prematurely when the battle's as hopeless as this!" Natsuki laughed, dancing around as she generously planted strikes all around Yuri's body. "I mean, I'm definitely gonna hold it over your head for the next five years to come, but don't let that stop ya!"
Yuri only considered it for a fraction of a second before the voice of her Amazon combat trainer echoed in her mind.
"As an Amazon, you must never give up. Never surrender. Face the enemy head on, don't back down, and fight until your last breath!"
Yuri closed her mind off to all outside distractions, deafening herself to the crashing of waves, the faint ocean breeze and Natsuki's mocking taunts.
She refused to give Natsuki the satisfaction of defeating her. She refused to let herself be pushed around by anyone ever again, be it Natsuki, Monika or her own treacherous mind. She refused to lose, no matter how bad the odds seemed.
She opened her mouth and announced her unyielding determination in the form of a fearsome Amazon war cry.
Despite her multitude of advantages, Natsuki paused, just for a split second as Yuri screamed. Her smile was gone, and Yuri thought she could see the lenses of her mask widening just a bit.
Yuri unloaded everything she had, ignoring her sore body screaming in protest as she kicked, punched and advanced on her opponent like a wild animal backed into a corner. It was Natsuki who was forced to defend herself now, desperately trying to block, dodge and evade Yuri's barrage of attacks.
Natsuki wasn't able to keep up for long, however. While she was fast, Yuri was stronger, and it only took one failed dodge from her part to break through her defenses and precision strikes with a well-placed fist to the pinkette's mouth.
Crumbling like a leaf, Natsuki fell backwards into the sand.
Breathing heavily, Yuri placed a boot on Natsuki's chest, forcing herself out of the bloodlust to avoid doing further harm to the downed girl, and the sounds of the world around them returned to her ears once more.
"Yield." She commanded to the girl breathing raggedly beneath her foot.
"Ugh…" Natsuki muttered, spitting out a small pool of thick blood from her mouth. Then, with impressive speed, she reached to her head, grabbing the red hour-glass shaped hairclip from her locks, and pressing down.
Yuri just had time to see the razor-sharp batwings extend from the hairclip like a Swiss army knife before Natsuki threw it directly at her face, defiantly.
The impromptu Batarang spun through the air, rapidly approaching Yuri's eyeball before clinking harmlessly against the bracelet of the arm Yuri had raised on reflex and fell into the sand.
"Oh." Natsuki said, and coughed up more blood. Yuri swiftly removed her boot from her chest.
"Did- did you honestly think that would work?" Yuri said in disbelief, bending down to grab the tiny hairclip and inspected it closer.
"Please, d- don't." Natsuki grunted, trying in effort to lift herself from the ground. "I'm already in e- enough pain right now. I d- don't need you to point out how useless my Bat-Sukirang is."
Yuri smiled in vague amusement and triumph before reaching down to help up her friend.
"You fought valiantly. I look forward to our next match."
"Yeah, g- great. Just great." Natsuki said weakly, staggering with wobbly knees. "What the Hell was that, Yuri? I thought g- going all 'berserker rage' was like a Viking thing."
"Whom do you think the Vikings learned it from?" Yuri replied. Natsuki let out an exasperated groan.
"Hey, b- before I go fly the Batwing home in embarrassment, d- d'you think I can get a dose of that p- purple healing ray just to take the edge off?"
"Of course." Yuri nodded. In truth, she thought she could use some herself. "Do you require assistance in walking to the temple?"
"F- fuck off, Yuri." Natsuki said, before stumbling and nearly falling over again. "Uh, I- I mean… if it's not too much trouble?"
Giggling to herself, Yuri bent down for Natsuki to place her good arm around her shoulder for support.
"Here." She said, gently. "I got you."
Last Chapter next Friday, for real this time. Better brace yourselves, it's going to be a long one.