Chapter 2: The High Priestess
"Yuuuuuuriiiii-ch-ch-chaaannnn, it's tooo c-c-cooooold!" a potted pitcher plant whined.
"Patience please, Nepenthes-darling, all you precious dears." Yuri cooed. "Just a couple more moments is all I ask."
The duel spirit pouted, the lid of her pitcher drooping and her humanoid bait crossing its arms from its seat on her pitcher, but her complaints quietened to a slight grumble. Altogether, there were five duel spirits lazing in clay flower pots. Dionaea, Nepenthes' fellow Traptrix, also showed visible discomfort at the room's climate, stems slumped and bait shivering, but had taken to distracting herself in conversation with the other venus flytrap.
Fly Trap and Squid Drosera were the only duel spirits that remained from his original deck. They had been surprising quiet since Yuri had arrived at the Academia and have yet to tell him what happened to the rest of the Predaplants. He was certain that his idiot of an uncle had something to do with it but his memories of the months leading up to his enrollment were still blurred. (And he still felt so hollow and empty and alone. He shouldn't feel so small, he should be bigger. Tail, claws, fangs…)
The final one was one of his uncle's childhood duel spirits, a feisty little thing named Dandylion. It got along well enough with the rest of the plants but avoided Yuri with a wary suspicion. Yuri didn't blame the spirit, humans were foul beings to the fault. Case in point, himself.
Yuri cranked the thermostat up several degrees and began setting up the vaporizer. Most of the spirits were tropical plants and favoured high humidity.
"You spoil those girls." Burstinatrix said, fading into visibility.
"They're very dear to me, mil'lady." Yuri replied as the air grew heavier and stickier. It was slightly uncomfortable but the sighs of relief from the plant spirits made it worthwhile.
With a more hospitable climate, the plant spirits became energized. Vines began to crawl across the floor, twisting around the legs of chairs and desks and creeping up the walls. A pleasant aroma filled the air, sweet yet slightly meaty with a hint of rot, the perfect lure of any insects to their death. Yuri let some energy flow freely through his bonds with the spirits, allowing for some tendrils to become solid.
"You do share this room, remember?" Burstinatrix said. "I don't think that Macfield-san or the Performages would take too kindly to such temperatures."
Yuri scowled at the mention of their absent roommates. "They'll just have to deal with it."
The lady hero sighed. "Please don't tell me this is about Xyz summoning."
"...possibly." Yuri admitted. His eyes, however, drifted to the walls. Posters of Pro League duelists were plastered like wallpaper, all courtesy of Macfield. They depicted contemporary champions like Hell Kaiser and Phoenix to the original King of Games and his adversaries; and the largest, easily twice the size of any other poster, advertised the advent of Action Duels with the founder and his ace commanding attention. A man in red and a monster in white. The pioneer of entertainment dueling and the selfish coward who abandoned a championship match.
"You can't hate him forever." Burstinatrix said, having followed his gaze. "And you can't hate Macfield-san by extension."
"His ace is Performage Trapeze Magician. He idolises that man. He says 'Ladies and Gentlemen'..."
"One of your brothers is like that." Burstinatrix pointed out. "You were like that."
"That doesn't-"
"What's that smell?!"
Both turned to see Macfield at the door, one hand at his nose to snuff out the smell.
"Did you kill someone in here or something?" Macfield said.
"Not yet…" Yuri mumbled.
"And how'd it get so sticky?" Macfield said while tramping across the room. "And what's with all the empty flower pots?"
Vines retreated from his path and faded from the physical plane before he could see them. The Predaplants growled and snapped as he passed. Yuri would have given them the energy they needed to trip their annoying roommate but Burstinatrix monopolised anything he sent through the bond and was slowly becoming more corporal.
"Don't." She warned, placing a hand on Yuri's shoulder. But Yuri wanted so badly to be rid of the other boy. It would be all too easy to make his death look like an accident.
"What we need here is a bit of fresh air!"
Macfield threw a window open and a chilling breeze invaded. Dionaea, being right in front of the window, took the brunt of the assault and was knocked from her ledge.
"Eeek!" the flytrap cried, clamping shut and retreating into herself.
"How dare you?!" Nepenthes shrieked. The pitcher plant lashed out and Yuri brought the attacking vine into existence. However before it could strike Macfield, Burstinatrix intervened and caught the vine.
"Behave, the both of you!" She said, fully corporeal in the human plane.
Macfield's eyes widened at the sight of the duel monster. "What?!"
He was an unbearable combination of his synchro trash brother and that man. Loud, obnoxious and completely unaware of his surrounding coupled with an entertainer's ego. Yuri wanted so badly to just throw him out the window but the Performages were appearing in their transparent form, ready to protect their master, while Burstinatrix remained between them to intercept or at least lessen any blows thrown at Macfield.
"We're leaving." Yuri said, taking Dionaea by the pot and cradling her in his arms. He sent streams of energy to the other plant spirits, giving them the ability to carry their pots but not enough to be visible to the 'blind' eye, then jumped out the window.
The dorm room was on the third floor. It would have been quite the fall, especially if one landed on their head, but Yuri had leaped from greater heights on an Action Field. He landed in a graceful crouch on the ground with a gentle clatter of clay as the other spirits followed suit. Well, only Nepenthes and the Predaplants, he only heard three clatters and Dandylion wasn't one for his 'dramatics'.
"We'll find a better place, dear, don't you worry." He reassured the whimpering spirit, following the dirt path. There had to be at least one place on this island that would satisfy his plants. "And we'll get revenge on that idiot Macfield for what he did."
"Please don't hurt Macfield-san." Dionaea said, her jaw opening slightly. "He didn't mean it. He didn't know I was there. It was just an accident."
"But you could have fallen!" Nepenthes yelled, taking larger leaps so that she was eye level with her sister.
"It was my fault for being up there."
And it was Yuri's fault for putting her up there in the first place. As much as he hated to admit it, Burstinatrix was right in holding him and Nepenthes back. They had overreacted to a simple, honest accident.
Acting on his impulses had always gotten him in trouble in the past, a trait that he sadly shared with all his brothers. Unlike them, though, Yuri had prided himself in his ability to reshape the situation to suit his needs, making any mistakes on his behalf insignificant. Or at least he used to. Something had changed when he arrived at the Academia. He couldn't think as clearly as he once had. He was losing his precision, his venom...
"Hey, Yuri-chan." Nepenthes said, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Random question. What do you have against Xyz summoning?"
The boy sighed. This was going to come up eventually. "Let's say it started with a certain brother of mine and a certain Xyz monster that he would always use to disrupt my plays and ended with a realisation of how...extensive the rank four toolbox can be." It was a little vendetta he'd had since childhood due to repeated encounters with Castel the Skyblaster Musketeer and his bouncing effect that then extended to the entire summoning method in general. Petty, yes, but if there was one thing that he was known for, it was being petty.
"Does that mean you hate us?" Dionaea asked meekly. "Me and Nepenthes are Traptrix, a...how do humans say it...Xyz archetype. Our eldest sister is an Xyz monster, so does that mean-"
"No, no, dears!" Yuri exclaimed, snuggling the spirit. "It's just a silly little thing. Nothing that will affect you girls."
"But you won't ever summon Rafflesia-neechan will you?" Nepenthes said.
"It would be very unlikely." Yuri admitted. "I am partial to Fusion, after all...and to the left now everyone."
Yuri sidestepped left with the potted plant spirits doing the same. Nepenthes and Dionaea had their baits portray confusion but for the Predaplants, they knew exactly what was coming. It was what Yuri like to call his 'Yuugou Instinct', created after years of dealing wild, reckless brothers that would ram down anything that in their way. It was the slight rumble in the ground. It was the distant sound of screaming, yelling and other angry noises. Sure enough, on the horizon of the woodland path, a group of students came bowling through. One diminutive red chased by three taller blues. Had Yuri and the spirits not stepped aside, they would have been run over and left in a tangled heap of limbs and broken pottery.
"Don't think you can run forever, dropout!" The lead blue, whose hair distinctly resembled a chicken, yelled.
Their prey, the little red boy with a mass of cyan hair, paid no heed to his pursuers and just continued running.
Normally, Yuri would have just let them be, as a lover of weakling hunting he knew how annoying it could be when some upstart ruined his fun, but instead he stuck his foot out just as the Osiris Red passed, tripping up the Obelisk Blues and landing them in a unsightly mass in the dirt. Maybe if he bested several of the top ranking students in a duel, Asuka would see no point in keeping him here and let him leave. Or he could land the lot of them in the infirmary and be expelled for being a safety hazard.
Chicken boy was the first to untangle himself from his companions. "Oi! What was that all about?"
Yuri didn't respond. He placed Dionaea beside her sister and activated his duel disk. It was an old outdated thing, another hand-me-down from his uncle that still had a physical card slots over the more recent holographic readers.
"Oh? Trying to be a tough guy, slacker?" Chicken boy said, a holographic blade appearing from his duel disk as it activated.
"Wha-what are you doing?" A squeaking voice piped behind him.
Yuri's eyes darted to the side to find that their prey was standing behind him. The boy was frozen in place instead of taking the opportunity to flee. Foolish boy.
"You trying to be a hero?" one of the other boys, who Yuri mentally dubbed Goon 1 since the Chicken was obviously the leader, said.
"There's no way a dropout like you can beat the boss!" The other boy, Goon 2 as he would now be known as, added. "He's the top ranking duelist our year level. He's got skill to rival even Hell Kaiser and the original King of Games!"
Yuri couldn't help but laugh at the goons apparent 'taunts'. He doubted that any of these brats would have even met a Pro League duelist, let alone measure up someone who was taught by them personally. It was one of the few good things that came out of his uncle's connections. As for being a hero, he was the farthest thing they could get from one.
They were slightly unnerved by his outbreak of laugher but Chicken remained firm.
"You think this is funny?" He said. "Well you won't be laughing for long! Prepare to crumble at the might of the great Manjoume-san! The first turn is mine, draw!"
{~~~}
'This is completely unheroic, Yuri-dono."
Yuri smiled but his eyebrow twitched slightly. The duel would be over this turn, if Flame Wingman wasn't being so difficult.
"I, as a great and honourable Elemental HERO, refuse to attack a civilian in such a violent manner."
"He is our opponent." Yuri mouthed. He couldn't risk Chicken or their spectators overhearing his little conversation. "This is perfectly reasonable." He tried releasing a stronger flow of energy, hopefully enough to 'encourage' the monster to make an appearance, only to be met with more resistance.
"Then I shall face him as a worthy opponent, not as a villain. The boy has proven himself as such, if only barely. Reduce the flow of power and I shall appear."
Yuri scowled. Avian was slightly talkative but not overly so, mostly to give his two cents about what the next move should be. Burstinatrix would send him disapproving glances and criticize his actions after the duel but would always respond to his summon. So how did their fusion end up as such a theatrical boy scout?
"Something the matter?" Chicken said.
"Did that ancient thing finally break down?" Goon 1 said. "Shouldn't have expected anything better from an Osiris dropout who couldn't even afford the latest uniform."
"You should just give up." Goon 2 added. "Your field is completely empty and anything you summoned will be finished off next turn. Maybe if you surrender and hand over your rarest card-"
"Will the two of you shut up!" Chicken yelled at his goons, much to the surprise of his opponent. "This duel is just about over, so just let it end! Now hurry up and make your move before I have to deal with more backseat dueling."
"That boy is a duelist with integrity." Wingman said. "Yuri-dono, summon me to the field so that I may meet his challenge!"
"What do you think I've been trying to do?" Yuri muttered to himself. But he couldn't help but be impressed at his opponent's plays so far. Baiting him into fusion summoning then taking control of the monster was an unexpected play first turn and unfortunately, there wasn't much Yuri could have done to counter the move. The rest of the deck had been curious about Burstinatrix's spiritual absence and had decided to be difficult for most of the duel. At least now they weren't actively working against him. It made this turnabout even more exciting. "From my hand, I activate Miracle Fusion. I banish Elemental HEROes Burstinatrix and Avian from my graveyard in order to fusion summon an old ally!"
"A fusion summon from the graveyard?!"
"Since when could a dropout do that?!"
Yuri simply ignored the goons' babbling and brought his hands together in a familiar clasp. "Hero of flames that soars through the sky, return to the field for the final battle! Come forth, Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!"
"The hero has arrived!" the monster declared as it materialised onto the field.
Yuri couldn't help as a smile creeped across his face. "Flame Wingman attacks Metfist the Infernal General!"
"Be vanquished, foul fiend!" Wingman added as his flames consumed the opposing monster while his effect burned the last of Chicken's lifepoints.
Being caught up in the theatrics of his battle, Flame Wingman had forgotten about the energy that Yuri had been pumping through and was no longer blocking it but instead letting it flow freely. The fire came alive, true heat blazing. The woodlands surrounding the dirt path were caught by the cinders, greedily consuming the fuel. The three blues were caught in a circle of flames, singed and burned.
"What in the world is going on?!" Chicken yelled, choking on the smoke.
His two goons were silent now, huddling closer together to avoid being burned. Huh, maybe Yuri should try this on Macfield or his brothers, it seemed to be an effective way to shut annoyances up.
Flame Wingman's eyes widened almost comically as he realised the damage.
"Yuri-dono!" He growled, turning his draconic hand on his summoner. "What have you done?!"
Yuri shrugged. "What I have been planning to do from the start of the duel. You should know me well enough by now, Sir Wingman. Besides..." he said, spreading his hands in a wide gesture. "This was all your doing." Maybe three charred corpses would be enough to get him expelled from this damned place.
"Kuri! Kuri!" A slight voice cried as a burst of light engulfed the area.
Yuri shielded his eyes from the flash of light and when it had dispersed, both Flame Wingman and the fire was gone, leaving three trembling blues in its wake. Their uniforms were slightly burned and Chicken was unconscious but otherwise, they were unharmed.
"MONSTER!" the two goons cried, fleeing the scene while dragging their fallen leader behind them.
Yuri scowled at his fleeing prey. How long would it be again until he would encounter another set duelists so eager to underestimate him? Word would spread thanks to those fools and while having a fearsome reputation was always good, it only make it harder to find live victims. Maybe he would have to result to property damage again or he could always give blackmail a try. But meanwhile…
Yuri looked down at the deck, which was still glowing slightly. He knew exactly which spirit had interrupted his fun and was most likely on his way to report him to Asuka. The woman was spiritually blind and deaf but she had spent enough time with his uncle to contrive an unorthodox way of communicating with spirits. Though there was only so much that she could to do him. Most of his deck was still missing, most likely the courtesy of his uncle, and his movements were limited by being on a damned island. Asuka could always lock him up in a padded room but that would be counterproductive to her goal of him making 'friends'.
"Y-you..."
Oh, Yuri had forgotten the little red prey was still there. He looked up to see that the boy was shaking violently, an entertaining cross between a deer about to be run over and a rabbit staring at its predator. His arm was raised and duel disk was active, though, which was admirable to some extent.
Yuri took a step forward and the boy took a step back. This would be an interesting little game.
"Something the matter?" Yuri asked. He could just accept the boy's challenge to a duel outright but sadly the deck was being unresponsive. If he started a duel now, the spirits would probably give him a brick hand and a couple of dead draws. Not that he wouldn't be able to win under those conditions but the duel would be more tedious than necessary.
"You...You…"
"Come on, spit it out."
The boy swallowed before looking Yuri straight in the eye. "You defended me from those bullies e-even though you had no idea what was going on but...you set them on fire."
"And your point?"
"My point?!" The boy squeaked. "You nearly killed three people with a card game!"
Yuri couldn't help but chuckle. This boy was adorable, like whenever he could back his gearhead brother into a corner. "What's wrong with that?"
The boy spluttered. "What's wrong with that?! Manslaughter, murder is the problem! A-and you shouldn't be able to do that with Duel Monster cards, of all things! The game's about having fun and smiling and-"
"Fun and smiling, you say?" Yuri growled.
The boy squeaked and took several steps back.
Now this was annoying. Yuri was able to find someone that would be somewhat amusing then the boy starts spouting more 'dueling for fun' and 'smiling' lines. He had enough of that from his mother, his naive baby brother, all of his damn uncles and cousins, that man, even Macfield in the past week they have been sharing a room and now…
Maybe he could use this boy to get himself expelled.
Yuri raised his duel disk, about to activate it, when out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the plant spirits. Fly Trap was hovering under a buzzing insect, gently snapping and straining its stem as it tried to catch its prey in its jaw. Squid Drosera's eyes followed the same prey, its many maws trying to snatch the insect, much to Fly Trap's annoyance. But there were only two pots, two spirits.
"Dionaea? Nepenthes?" Yuri called, ignoring the boy's confusion.
The Traptrix were nowhere in sight.
Silently cursing, Yuri ran past the boy with the gentle clicks of clay on dirt informing him that his Predaplants were following. He could always hunt down the boy another day but right now he had a pair of wayward spirits to find.
It was easy to find their trail, Yuri didn't even have to extend his senses down the bond he shared with the spirits. Their pots had left a distinct trail of circular indents that lead back towards the Ra Yellow Dorm. The pot prints left were also pretty deep, like heavy footed stomping, and were far from uniform as they often wavered to one side or another. It was a sign of how inexperienced the girls were when receiving duel energy from a human.
They must have wondered off some time during his duel with Chicken. Some of the energy generated must have slipped into the Traptrix, even more so when Flame Wingman resisted his summoning. Duels always created energy but most of it dispersed into the atmosphere. Yuri was one of the few people who could channel it without the help of some sort of external medium, normally straight into his monsters while storing part of it into himself. It had become second nature to channel the excess energy to any surrounding duel spirits that he had bonded with, even if their card wasn't currently in his deck.
Dionaea and Nepenthes were still unused to the energy that he would channel to them freely. Yuri had only found them a couple of days after arriving on the island, after he had slipped away from Asuka and his idiot uncle. Just thinking where he had found them made Yuri want to let loose everything on the Academia students. A well where unwanted cards were dumped? Those fools were lucky that the spirits there were so disheartened that they didn't even think of seeking revenge. Such spiritual presence focused in one place would lead to a powerful and destructive force, maybe enough to take a duelist as a vessel. That was why he never took his grandfather's advice for granted. Cards really did have hearts and to break them would only result in disaster.
The trail didn't stop at the Ra Yellow Dorm like Yuri had hoped, instead it continued onwards towards the Obelisk Blue and Female Dorms. He tsked but continued to follow up the steeper path to the Blue Dorms.
"Hey Yuri!"
"Yuri-bouzu!"
Yuri brought himself to a halt just in time to avoid tumbling over Macfield, who had just emerged from the dorm. Burstinatrix floated behind him, once again an incorporeal spirit. There were two gentle bumps against his ankles as his Predaplants stopped behind him.
"Move." Yuri said, staring up at Macfield.
"Nice to see you too." Macfield said with an idiot's smile planted across his face. "I, or I guess we, were just about to go look for you. After you and the clay pots-er, plant spirits, jumped out the window, Burstinatrix-san was still uh...visible and she kind of told some stuff about you and duel spirits and plants-"
"Get to the point, Macfield." Yuri said, his foot tapping impatiently. He didn't have time for this blubbering.
"Manners, Yuri-bouzu." Burstinatrix said.
"If he won't use honorifics then neither will I."
"That's not what I meant."
"Wait, Burstinatrix-san is still here?" Macfield said, surprised. "I thought she would have went back to the Spirit World or wh-ahHH!"
The yellow was cut off as tendrils from Squid Drosera grabbed him by the ankle and hoisted him up into the air. Fly Trap appeared appeared beneath him and started snapping at his hair. This, of course, was done with directions and energy provided by Yuri. His Predaplants knew him well, even the slightest gesture was enough to communicate a command.
The Performages, worried for their duelist, materialised in their transparent form and tried to pry the vines that encompassed Macfield. Had Yuri the time, he would have commented on how ineffective that was as having Squid Drosera release Macfield would end up with him in Fly Trap's gut, which was bad considering how unhealthy idiots were, or on his head with a cracked skull considering none of them were solid enough to catch him.
However, Yuri did not have the time to worry about that at the moment. He continued down the path, leaving his roommates and duel spirits behind him. Yuri knew that his Predaplants could handle themselves and they knew how to reach for energy from him even if he was a fair distance away. Burstinatrix would probably scold him later but at least Macfield wasn't fatally injured or traumatised.
Running uphill winded him more than it should have but then again, Yuri hadn't been this physically exertive since his youngest brother had the bright idea of playing 160-card pick up with their decks on an Action Field a couple months ago. That had ended with Yuri dangling his three brothers from the rafters after summoning-
...who?
He stopped in his tracks. Who did he summon that time? Chimerafflesia? Dragostapelia? Why was he even questioning something as faulty and insignificant as a memory?
Because you've forgotten.
Of course Yuri had forgotten, he was always forgetting things. It was one of the many faults of the human brain.
You've forgotten something you were never supposed to forget.
Then how was he supposed to know that he had forgotten it?
No, you were forced to forget.
By who?
Yuri tried to shake away the thoughts, but they kept coming, stronger and stronger. Was it a spirit?
It was his fault.
Not very specific.
It was her fault.
Was there two people involved? Make up your mind, voice!
Part of you, part of me, part of one.
This...this was making no sense.
You are not whole.
What was he doing again?
Become-
A roar.
A dragon's roar rang through the air, bringing Yuri back to his thoughts, and face to face with the black head of a dragon.
"Aaahhhhruuuugghhh!" The dragon roared once again.
Yuri's ears were ringing but he remained rooted. Showing fear was a very quick way to become a dragon's snack.
The dragon itself was a beautiful creature. Like its head, its neck and tail was black and appeared almost plated, with large scales interwoven with veins of red. The scales covering its wings and body appeared soft and delicate, like rose petals, and arranged themselves like a flowering bouquet. From between those scales, like daggers in silk, came several black thorny tendrils, raised and ready to strike.
Yuri smiled, as soft and gentle as the dragon's petal scales. "Hello, darling." He extended his hand to pet its snout.
The dragon eyed him cautiously, but didn't bite his hand off. After a moment of contemplation, it bowed into his touch and nuzzled him gently as he brought his other hand to its jaw.
"Such a lovely thing you are…" While plants would always been his first love, there was something about dragons that was simply enthralling. The power they command at will, the majesty they expelled with even the slightest movement. But bringing them into this plane of existence was such a chore, the amount of energy to sustain a solid dragon form was ten times that needed to do the same for a warrior. He couldn't help but admire the power of whoever was the source-
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
Both boy and dragon turned to find an angry red, both in hair and uniform, storming towards them. Following her almost awkwardly were the missing Dionaea and Nepenthes, hopping behind her rapidly to keep up.
"Nepenthes-darling! Dionaea-dear!" Yuri said, dodging the woman in order to meet the Traptrix. If there was one thing that experience had taught him, never approach an angry woman directly unless there was a safe form of confrontation.
"Yuri-chan!"the two spirits cried, jumping into his arms. Their maws were wide open with their baits reaching out to give them a semblance of a hug. Surprisingly, they were solid and weren't struggling to maintain the form. It was either they had managed to distribute the energy they received well enough, which he doubted they would have been able to master in the short time that they had wondered, or they were receiving so much energy that they didn't have a choice but to become solid. Gently prodding at the Traptrix's bonds, Yuri traced the source of straight behind him to the red woman.
The woman's rage had dissipated, as expected when someone failed to get the reaction they desired.
"You're the one sustain their forms?" Yuri asked. He traced the flow of energy further and found that not only was she providing energy for the Traptrix but also for the dragon. "And for the dragon too? I'm impressed." And he honestly was. He knew that he was capable of doing something similar but the few times he had attempted to while on the island yet every time he had been left too drained to even maintain the form for more than several minutes.
"You're Yuri-chan?" the woman said. "I was expecting…"
"Someone older?"
"A girl."
Yuri bristled while the Traptrix giggled."'Yuri' is a unisex name. It can be for both boys and girls." And, not for the first time in his life, Yuri cursed his parents for their insistence on theme naming. Their family had enough people with names starting with 'Yu', they didn't need to name their quadruplets the same way.
A deep rumbling growl, a laugh, came from the dragon while the woman tried to suppress her own amusement. "But it means 'lily'."
"My name is written in katakana, it has no meaning. Besides, it's written as J-O-E-R-I, which is basically 'George'."
Now the woman was laughing at him too, even the Traptrix had an outburst at his expense. Traitors the lot of them.
"Who names their kid that?" the woman finally said between laughs.
"I have an uncle named 'game', a cousin named 'planetary' and a brother named 'fusion'. My family has a thing for weird names. Just call me 'Cabbage Lord' and be over with it."
With a sweeping bow, the woman said. "It is an honour to meet you Yuri-dono, Lord of Cabbages. I am Aki Izayoi, Lady of Roses."
Now Yuri himself couldn't help but chuckle. "A pleasure Izayoi-dono. I can't thank you enough for taking care of Nepenthes-darling and Dionaea-dear." He said sincerely.
Had the Traptrix been left to their own devices, there was no telling what trouble they would have caused. While they may have settled with him, they were still spirits suffering from abandonment. He wouldn't have minded the chaos but then he would have had several uncles on his tail armed with friendship speeches. Not worth the trouble.
"Thank you, Aki-san." Dionaea said.
"Yeah, thanks Aki-chan!" Nepenthes added.
"Don't worry about it." Izayoi said. "Helping empty pots find their owner isn't that big of a deal."
"Empty pots?" Yuri said, looking from Izayoi to the Traptrix. "The pots were never empty or at least you should have at least seen the dears if not faintly."
Izayoi shot him a puzzled look. "But they were empty, just bouncing clay pots, or at least until I used my powers on them."
"Used your…? If you don't mind."
"Um, sure?"
"Prepare yourselves dears." Yuri said to the Traptrix.
Reaching down the bond he shared with the spirits, Yuri found the flow of energy from Izayoi and cut it off. The effect was almost immediate as the pair lost their physical form and were once again transparent.
Izayoi blinked. "They're gone."
"No, we're still here." Nepenthes said, somewhat annoyed. Dionaea nodded in agreement.
"Interesting, so you're blind and deaf yet you can channel duel energy." Yuri said, mostly to himself.
"What are you-"
"AIEEEEEEE!"
Both froze as a high pitch scream echoed.
"Should we go?" Izayoi asked.
Yuri grinned. "Why not? It would be interesting." Besides, it was always fun to see people suffer. "Lead the way."
Yuri followed the woman out of the garden towards the direction of the noise, their duel spirits trailing behind them. He had been so enraptured by the sight of Izayoi's dragon, he still needed to find out its name, and later their conversation to have realised that the he had wandered into an enclosed rose garden. Maybe that was why Izayoi had been so volatile earlier, he had basically been trespassing. It looked so lush and well-tended that Yuri hoped to come back, regardless of whether Izayoi would allow him or not. Such beauty deserved to be properly admired and tended to.
Izayoi led them to a clearing which opened up into a lake with a blue dorm vaguely visible on the opposite shore. They hid themselves among the surrounding trees and shrubbery. Yuri was about to suggest that Izayoi dispel her dragon's physical form but the spirit concealed itself so well with the roses that peaked through the greens that there was no need to.
On the docks was a flash of red and three blues. The red was hunched over, possibly tied up, while blues towered over in a three point formation.
"Hey, isn't that the kid from earlier?" Nepenthes said.
Taking a closer look, Yuri saw that indeed it was the cyan-haired prey from earlier.
"Do you know him?" Izayoi asked.
Yuri made a dismissing wave. "We encountered him earlier today while avoiding a...scuffle with our roommates. Other than that, he's a complete stranger."
From their position, it was hard to hear what exactly students on the dock were saying but Yuri could probably guess that it was another trespassing incident only unlike him, the boy was going to get reported to a teacher. Should he intervene and 'save him again? Probably not. The last thing he needed was to give the boy a reason to get clingy.
However, for one reason or another despite them being completely silent, one of the blues, who was most likely the leader, called out.
"We know you're there! Come out!"
Izayoi's eyes widened but Yuri gestured for her to stay. Maybe he should have let her go instead, she did have a reason for being in the female area after all, he was curious how they could have been spotted. Besides, everyone knew what happened when curiosity met a cat and satisfaction.
It would be amusing.
Yuri stepped out from the bushes, head held high and duel disk ready should the need arise for a duel.
"Lovely day, isn't ladies?" He said, approaching the group.
The boy's eyes brightened when he spotted the other red. "Aniki!"
That caused Yuri to pause. Maybe he should have let Izayoi deal with this. The last thing he needed was another little brother.
"So you're the accomplice to this little pervert?" The lead blue said.
"Oh no, that was just a coincidence. I was just passing through." Yuri said. Though he couldn't help but have his gaze linger on the girl's face. She bore an awful resemblance to the Hiragi girl in Miami. A cousin or long lost sister perhaps?
"Yeah? Then why does he address you so familiarly?"
"Because he saved me once, like a hero!" The boy interjected, though he mumbled something afterwards.
The lead girl looked unimpressed. "So are you here to 'save' him again?"
"I don't know." Yuri said, taking another several steps forward so he was standing in front of the girl. The resemblance to Hiragi was uncanny, he might have mistaken this girl for her under any other circumstances. "I think that you would make a much better damsel in distress."
The girl flushed red, either from rage or embarrassment. She swung at him, which Yuri was able to easily dodge.
"Tut, tut, darling." Yuri said. "We don't fight with fists here, remember. We fight with cards."
So that was how Yuri ended up a rowboat in the middle of the lake with his opponent in another boat opposite him. The others girls (did Obelisks always come in groups of three?) had chosen to stay on shore. The prey-boy, on the other hand, was dangling from a tree branch over the lake. That boy should better know how to swim or else he would have a watery grave should anyone...accidentally cut the rope.
"Don't you dare hold back." his opponent said.
"Wouldn't dream of it Moon-darling." Yuri said.
"Moon-darling?"
"Well you haven't told me your name yet and for some reason 'Moon' fits." And because, though he had been able to ignore it so far, the steady buzz on 'Enmoonenmoonenmoonenmoon' had been at the back of his mind since he laid eyes on this girl. She was familiar and not because she looked like Hiragi.
"My name is Serena." She said. "And you better use it!"
"Then call me Yuri." He said, circumventing his normal 'I am the Cabbage Lord' routine.
"DUEL!"
Yuri: 4000 LP
Serena: 4000 LP
"I'll take the first turn." Yuri declared, drawing a card.
"Haven't you ever heard of 'ladies first'?"
"I have but I didn't think that you would mind."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
Yuri giggled. The duel had barely started and already Moon-darling, or rather Serena, was proving to be quite the fun opponent to rile up. "First I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in attack mode."
The lake began to bubble then from the depth a warrior in blue armour burst through, cape flaring, before taking his position before Yuri.
ATK: 800
"I am the soap, I am the aqua, I am BUBBLEMAN!" The hero said in a raspy voice.
"This is why Lady Burstinatrix is my favourite." Yuri mumbled as he drew two cards.
"Oi! Don't go drawing cards whenever you feel like it!" his opponent yelled, noticing the move. "That's illegal!"
"No, it's Bubbleman's effect. When he is the only card I control when summoned, I can draw two cards." Yuri explained with a scowl. "You should be able to read the card effects from your duel disk so there's no need for me to waste my breath."
"And here I thought you would jump at the sound of your own voice."
"But if I jumped, I'd capsize the boat or fall into the lake."
"That's not what I meant!"
Yuri grinned. "I know but it's so much fun getting your cute face all red." He hadn't had this much fun with banter since his last duel with his brother. Hopefully her skill matched. "Now I play the spell Polymerization! I fuse Elemental HERO Clayman in my hand with Bubbleman on my field..."
Yuri extended his arms and began to chant. This was one of the few good things that came from that damned entertainment philosophy. "Hero of earth! Hero of water! Become one and part the sea as a new warrior!" The two heroes combined in the swirl of red and blue as Yuri brought his hands together in a prayer-like clasp. "Fusion summon, Elemental HERO Mudballman!"
The fusion monster landed before Yuri with a large splash that rocked both boats. Thankfully, he didn't say anything besides a slight grunt.
DEF: 3000
"I end my turn." Yuri said. "A solid defence, don't you think darling?"
"It's Selena!" The girl yelled. "And all you did was summon an effectless wall with no backrow protection. All I need is a monster with a higher attack."
Yuri scowled, she was right. Though he had five cards, there was nothing he could set as backrow. One of the more annoying things about running first generation Elemental HEROes was that there were too many cards that only worked on specific monsters. Maybe he could have set some as a bluff but he wouldn't risk it considering that his uncle did have some useful spells and traps in the deck that the space was better saved for.
"It's my turn, draw!" Selena declared. "And from my hand I play Polymerization!"
"Copycat! Copycat!"
"Shut up! I fuse Lunalight Blue Cat and Lunalight Black Sheep in my hand in order to fusion summon Lunalight Cat Dancer!" As she announced her move a blue cat girl and a man dressed in a black wool-lined suit appeared behind her before swirling together in a mass of red and blue to combine into an elegant feline woman dressed in pale blue robes and wielding a pair of daggers.
ATK: 2400
"Oh wow! Who knew that 'moon' and 'cat' suited you so well, darling?"
Selena looked visibly irritated but didn't rise to his taunts. How disappointing. "Black Sheep's effect activates! Since it was used as fusion material I can add a Lunalight monster from my graveyard to my hand. I choose Blue Cat!"
"It's not like you had many options. You can't choose Black Sheep after all."
"I would prefer it if you stop taunting my master-nya." Cat Dancer said, flashing her daggers.
"I'll keep my comments to a minimum, madam." Yuri said. Though the moment the monster left the field, it was back to poking at the little moon cat.
"Who are you talking to?" Selena asked.
"Cat Dancer of course."
She chose wisely not to comment on that response. "I send Lunalight Purple Butterfly from my hand to my graveyard in order to have Cat Dancer gain a thousand more attack points!"
The shadow of purple wings appeared behind the monster as its attack increased.
ATK: 2400 - 3400
"Now battle! Cat Dancer attacks Mudballman!"
The feline dancer spun, elegant and deadly across the lake to slice its foe in half. The warrior exploded into clouts of mud. Luckily, Yuri knew better than to channel duel energy into a monster that would be destroyed thus was spared from being covered in the hero's remains.
"And since Cat Dancer declared an attack, you take a hundred points of damage."
The blades slightly nicked at Yuri as the monster made her way back to the other side of the field.
Yuri: 4000 LP - 3900 LP
"That was an impressive first move, Selena." Yuri said. "If only you could have dealt piercing damage, then your little dance would be more fatal."
"Are you patronising me?!" Selena yelled, her voice slightly more strained.
Huh, maybe dueling on boats wasn't such a good idea. Her constant yelling was sure to do a number on her vocals chords, she should at least try projecting her voice more at least.
"No, it was an honest compliment. 'Give honour where honour is due', after all."
Selena went red again. She was blushing? Adorable."I set two cards face down and end my turn."
"Then my turn starts." Yuri said, drawing a card. "I activate Fusion Recovery. Do you need an explanation?"
"Just make your move!"
"Fine, fine."
"You should pick Bubbleman." Avian said as the winged hero materialised.
"Pardon? No thank you, sir." Yuri said softly.
He was about to choose to add Clayman to his hand when Sparkman appeared on his other side.
"Why not, Yuri-bouzu?" Sparkman said, leaning into Yuri's shoulder. "That would let you go for Tempest."
"And being indestructible by battle a useful tactic." Avian added.
"But I'll still be taking battle damage." Yuri said. "And Cat Dancer is inherently invulnerable to battle destruction, that would just be a waste resources."
"But you never summon Tempest!" Sparkman all but whined.
"Because the situation doesn't call for it!" Didn't these spirits know when to shut up?
"Oi! Stop talking to yourself or Cat Dancer or whoever and finish your move already!" Selena yelled once again, startling the two spirits.
"She's scary." Sparkman said.
Avian nodded. "And she reminds me of Burstinatrix."
Yuri chose to ignore the spirits and continued his move as he pleased, adding Clayman to his hand along with Polymerization. "Now I activate Polymerization to fuse Elemental HERO Sparkman…"
"But does Burst-chan like cats?"
"I'm pretty sure she's allergic but I'll ask one of the Hero Kids to check."
"And I fuse Sparkman and Clayman." Yuri repeated, though the spirit still didn't hear him.
"Spark-kun, we're going to fuse." Clayman said, prodding at the other warrior. That was why he was Yuri's second favourite.
"Oh yeah, whoops! Sorry Yuri-bouzu." Sparkman said as he materialised alongside Clayman in the fusion spiral.
Yuri sighed but started the summon chant. "Hero of Earth! Hero of Lightning! Become one and shock the field as a new warrior. Fusion summon, Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!"
ATK: 2400
"Eeek! Water!" Thunder Giant cried as he landed on the field. He bounced from foot to foot, as if to avoid the water, despite the fact that he was hovering.
"You should have gone for Tempest." Avian said.
"But I need his effect." Yuri said aside, at least this wasn't as bad as the drama he caused in Pandemonium. "Which activates and destroys Lunalight Cat Dancer!"
"Goodbye kitty." The warrior said as he sent a burst of electricity to destroy the opposing monster.
"Finally, I activate my facedowns!" Selena declared. "Since Cat Dancer was destroyed, I'll use Lunalight Reincarnation Dance to add Lunalight White Rabbit and Lunalight Crimson Fox to my hand. Then with Fusion Reserve, I reveal Invoked Caliga to add Aleister the Invoker from my deck then Polymerization from my graveyard!"
"You run Invoker? That was unexpected." Yuri said.
"It works with my deck." Selena said with a shrug.
"A smart little thing you are for moving outside of your archetype. Now Thunder Giant attacks directly!"
A ball of electricity was thrown at his opponent and Yuri channeled some duel energy to bring the attack to life. However, the deck flashed the energy was embargoed by another spirit, leaving the attack harmless.
Selena: 4000 LP - 1600 LP
"So you're back." Yuri scowled. If the jailer was here, that meant Asuka was on her way.
"Kuri kuri!" came an angry voice from his deck, though the spirit didn't appear.
"And I hate you too." Yuri said to the spirit. Then aloud he said, "I set three cards to end my turn. What do you think, Selena-Darling? An impressive comeback?"
Selena didn't fall for the rise and was instead smirking. "You just gave me all the cards I need to finish this duel! I draw and activate Polymerization to fuse Lunalight Blue Cat and Lunalight Crimson Fox to fusion summon another Lunalight Cat Dancer!"
ATK: 2400
"And with Crimson Fox's effect, you're Thunder Giant's attack is reduced to zero!"
A burst of red light erupted from Selena's graveyard and engulfed the hero.
"Yuri-dono...I don't feel so good…" Thunder Giant said, looking a little pale.
ATK: 2400 - 0
"Hang in there Thunder-kun!" Avian said. "She's got to end her turn soon."
"No." Yuri said, recalling the cards she had added to her hand. "This is the start of a world of pain."
"Now I summon Lunalight White Rabbit!"
The new monster appeared beside Cat Dancer, wielding a large mallet over her shoulders.
"I pound and I pound, night after night." the rabbit muttered.
"And with White Rabbit's effect I can return one of your facedowns to your hand and I choose the middle one!"
White Rabbit brought her mallet down on the middle card. Yuri scowled as Emergency Provisions was returned to his hand though, in all honesty, it was better than card than one of the others.
Thunder Giant was cowering now, with his hands over his ears to block out the pounding sound. "Is it over now?"
"Sadly no, sir." Yuri said. "There's still Cat Dancer's effect."
"So where's that cocky attitude now?" Selena cried from across the lake. "This duel ends here! By tributing White Rabbit, your monster won't be destroyed by battle the first time…"
"That's good right?" Thunder Giant said meekly.
"...and Cat Dancer can attack all monsters twice!"
"With double Cat Dancer's attack, plus two hundred from her effect...that's five thousand points of damage!" Avian exclaimed.
"Do something, Yuri-dono!" Thunder Giant begged. "I don't want to be cat litter!"
A wide grin was painted on Selena's face. Yuri couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked under the moonlight. "Now Cat Dancer attacks!"
Then there was a sudden snap, as the prey boy's rope was cut and he fell into the water. His leg hit the edge of Yuri's boat at just the right angle to send Yuri tumbling in as well and capsized the boat. Yuri's duel disk automatically deactivated to avoid any water damage or electrocution, ending the duel. Yuri tried to calmly tread the water but the prey boy, who had gotten free of his bindings, insisted on clawing at him, pulling both of them underwater.
"Help Aniki! I can't swim!"
"Then stop trying to drown the both of us!"
The boys were quickly fished out of the water and landed on the deck of a small speed boat. The boy was on his knees and panting while Yuri pulled himself to his feet using the guard rails and tried to compose himself. On board was a scowling Selena, the two other Obelisk girls and, of course, Asuka.
"What will it take to make you behave?" the teacher said with a sigh.
"An interdimensional war and a parasitic insect." Yuri replied. "And by the way, sensei, I trespassed in the female dorm area so-"
"No, this will not get you expelled." Asuka said. "And stop dragging other students into your plots."
"Or what? You'll tell my uncle?"
"No, I'll call your mother."
Yuri scowled. If Asuka called his mother, there was a good chance he would be dodging motorcycles and friendship speeches for the next week. His brothers were most likely to come along and knowing his youngest, he drag them all into some crazy scheme that would end in utter chaos (the bad kind), total embarrassment or, worse, everyone smiling. The worse thing about that was that he would still be left at the Academia to deal with the aftermath.
"Touche." Yuri mumbled.
"You're trying to leave?!" the prey boy cried, having caught his breath. "But why Aniki?"
"I am not your aniki." Yuri growled. "And I've already explained myself once before. Find Macfield if you want details."
"Well just continue the way you're going and you'll be kicked out anyway." Selena said.
"Oh? I'm in red by choice, not by designation. I could be the best in the entire Academia if I wanted to."
"Really?" Selena said, storming up to him. "You were this close to losing."
Yuri smirked as he leaned closer to her. "No I was this close to winning." He pulled out a card from his duel disk. "I would have activated this the moment you finished your first attack."
Selena's eyes widened. "Cross Heart...you would have taken control of Cat Dancer…"
"And won next turn."
"That was just luck! If I had picked another card…"
"Emergency Provisions would have given me enough lifepoints to survive the turn. The other facedown was Mirror Force. Face it, darling, I would have been able to win.:
Selena sputtered and turned red, swirling around and retreating to her friends. Asuka was on the other side of the deck comforting the prey boy and probably getting his side of the story.
Yuri took this time to inspect the remains of the rope that the prey boy had dragged up with him. It was good sturdy stuff and wouldn't have been snapped naturally. Looking closer, the rope had been cut.
Yuri turned to the shoreline, where he knew Izayoi would have been hiding.
"I didn't need your help."
But thank you anyway.