Stardust Shimmer
Four: Short Circuit
"We need to talk."
All three minors and Jack Atlas exchanged looks at each other as the beheld the superhero. The professor was just more discreet about it as he glanced at the Last Son of Krypton.
"We do? I wasn't aware that Earth's heroes require my expertise," Yusei answered, his face set. "My son tells me that another of your colleagues is present in the building. Shall we talk face to face then? I have a public seminar on Momentum to conduct in about half an hour."
"Exactly," the hero pleasantly answered. "We call it Ener-D in America, but I have heard much about this Momentum energy although I do not quite comprehend the... unique applications for it."
"Unique applications?" Yusei echoed, blue eyes flicking momentarily towards J'onn as the Martian Manhunter appeared, before moving back to the Man of Steel as if the green alien were nothing more than another human being.
"Duel Monsters," the Man of Steel answered, almost fascinated by this casual acceptance to J'onn.
"It would depend upon the perspective, I suppose," the professor answered. "Back home in Neo Domino City, Duel Monsters are quite commonplace. In fact, I believe that they are rather popular here in America as well, seeing as a huge tournament is being held in a big city nearby, Gotham. Or were you referring to the common issue seen amongst non-players of the game, that of being the point of a Duel Board?"
"I once saw the Battle City tournament being held in Metropolis," Superman answered. "Why would anyone invent holographic technology to such a degree of reality, and keep an iron grip upon the patent, just to play a game?"
Immediately, the temperature rose and fell at the same moment as the blue-eyed girl, the brunet boy and Jack Atlas all glared at him, no doubt having understood what he had said and not liking it a bit. The professor's eyes themselves had hardened to chips of blue ice almost like the little girl currently directing a chilling glare at him.
"I can only suppose that there is something inordinately fascinating about the holographic battles if people are so willing to go to such lengths to play them," he serenely answered.
That was the last reply he got before an explosion sounded and the walls crashed in. Screams rang through as people quickly evacuated away from the cracks in the wall that had creepers poking feelers through.
"We're being attacked by plants," Yusei's tone was dead-pan. "Killer plants."
"Ah, and only a few left," a feminine voice agreed as a pale-skinned woman in a green off-shoulder leotard with matching gloves and boots strolled in, curling a long red lock around one finger.
"Poison Ivy!" Superman would have rushed over, if not for the creepers now shooting out to restrain both heroes.
"Spores...?" J'onn murmured as a wave of the yellow powder descended upon him and the Man of Steel, both crumpling quickly enough.
Both hostile children were exchanging looks, before placing Seika behind them as if in a temporary truce. Jack and Yusei were also placing themselves between the super-villianess and the children.
"Poison... Ivy," Yusei tested the strange words upon his tongue, both men struggling as the creepers headed for them instead.
"At your service, Doctor Fudo," the villainess answered as more thick thorny vines entered the room. "It's so nice to meet a man with manners nowadays. Those cretins in the Justice League are just rude."
"Confidence breeds arrogance, I suppose," the professor neutrally answered. "Why are you... gate-crashing? Forgive me, English is not my first tongue."
"Could I not have an interest in green technology, my good man?" she answered.
"There's such a thing as the front door," Jack remarked.
She glared at him. "Nothing so pedestrian as attending. Doctor Fudo, your miniature energy generator is something highly sought after."
"Why not the main generator itself?" Yusei muttered.
"Too troublesome, despite that Neo Domino is a city strangely lacking in meta-human activity," Poison Ivy answered. "You have done no environmental crimes, and perhaps even assisted the cause of Mother Earth, so you will live as long as you don't try anything to stop me."
"I can't exactly let you steal the generator either," Yusei pointed out.
Seika cried out as a tendril as thick as her own waist approached them.
"Perhaps now you will?" the plant-human murmured serenely.
The tendril was sliced to ribbons. "Papa?" Ryuusei asked, Setsuka already standing by Seika.
Yusei breathed, shutting his eyes. "Self-defence. Try not to kill anyone."
"What are you trying, boy?" Poison Ivy sneered, her plants gathering around her.
"I summon the tuner monster, Quickdraw Synchron, by discarding one card," Ryuusei firmly began, Poison Ivy taken aback as the gun-toting monster in the sombrero appeared beside the relatively young boy. "By its own effect, Quillbolt Hedgehog is summoned to the field."
"How cute," she sneered as the determined-looking hedgehog followed up on the field.
"Tuning, Bolt Hedgehog to Quickdraw Synchron," Ryuusei's expression set, something terrifying in a boy who had yet to hit his growth spurt. "Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set in bloom! Synchro Summon!"
Winds howled as Setsuka produced her own cards, ice forming around the two girls and the exhibits as rose petals began to blow around the room and the creepers fell as they were easily shredded by killer rose petals.
"Rose... petals...?" Ivy gasped as she vaguely touched a floating petal only to draw her hand back, red blood forming on one finger.
"You threatened my precious people," the boy grimaced. "Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"
Superman was awoken by a very harsh punch to the jaw. Granted, it didn't hurt so much, but this was Batman's punch. It hurt.
"Ow!" the Man of Steel blinked from his chemically induced sleep to stare into ever-white eyes set into a mask. "Where...? Batman?"
"Poison Ivy came here, and not only did you get yourself exposed to plant toxins along with J'onn, you left civilians unprotected," the Caped Crusader growled. "You're lucky both of you have alien psychologies, or who knows what that toxin would do."
"Toxin...?" Superman's eyes widened. "The professor!"
"Safe," Batman growled. "For the most inexplicable reason." He then motioned to the surroundings. "Care to explain?"
The exhibition hall, or what was remaining of it, looked as though a hurricane carrying numerous blades had blown through it. Slices and cracks dotted the cement, and even the floor was not spared the large amount of damage that surely could not have been Ivy's work, or even his own, come to think of it.
"I... do not know," J'onn murmured, struggling to sit up. "I sensed much psychic activity here before, but they are mere traces compared to others. One I recognise from the hospital, the other is something foreign to me. Apparently this destruction was caused by... no. Only one caused the destruction, standing over there," he pointed at the epicentre, where Poison Ivy had been said to be standing at. "The familiar presence was some distance away, over there, apparently projecting a shield." he directed towards the remains of the creepers, behind where the heroes had been tangled. "There was a third, but what I have no idea."
"So, two strangers did your jobs for you," Batman twitched, holding one had to his ear. "And you let them get away... what?"
Black Rose Dragon, the voice murmured. You will find the petals of death around the device still running behind the creepers.
"There's no device running..." his voice trailed off at the sight of the rotating drums of the Ener-D reactor of miniature, the sign hanging beside it only two words: Mini Momentum.
"Has all the power been shut off?"
"Yes, why..." Superman joined him in stunned silence. "Momentum?"
"It all leads back to that," the dark knight murmured, almost regretful. "Duel Monsters."
"Poison Ivy's in custody at the moment," In the Watchtower, Batman let go of the thick file, the papers releasing a cloud of dust upon impact.
The Flash coughed. "Ew, Bats, what's in there?"
"Five years after Showdown at Hero City," Batman answered bluntly, pulling it open to sift through papers after papers. "A few years after that, the natural disaster called Zero Reverse happened, and I thought it was all over. Now, with potential threat from Yliaster, we need information quickly and to find the people responsible."
"Ah huh," Flash muttered, backing away from a clearly furious Batman. "What's up with him?"
"He just found out that Gotham City is hosting the Junior-Singles World Riding Duel Grand Prix this year," Superman answered as he walked in.
"It's been what, a few years?" Flash complained. "That place was great! Minus the monsters set to kill us and the deathly cold, of course," the speedster quickly added.
"Flash you're the only one who keeps up with Duel Monsters," Batman growled. "If I asked you to identify a Black Rose Dragon, what would you say?"
"Fortune Cup, WRGP the first, the Cross-America Golden Tag Tournament, need some more?" Flash sighed. "Man, that babe was hot... though painful."
"Painful?" Superman sceptically echoed.
"Black Rose Dragon was the ace monster of Aki Izayoi, also known as the Black Rose Witch," Flash answered.
"I know," Batman growled. "What I don't know is, how did Black Rose Dragon appear and attack Poison Ivy until intensive medical treatment was required, also causing the destruction of a whole hall in the process?"
"Black Rose Dragon's effect is to destroy the whole field once it's summoned," Flash observed as he pulled up the photograph of a comparatively newer file. "Maybe it's that. Remember the mess back with Showdown in Hero City? How they wrecked the whole Gotham-Metropolis highway?"
"Hard to forget," Batman growled. "Aki Izayoi... she married... Yusei Fudo. They had a son... a son who was there." In his hand was a picture of the Fudo family's public appearance, complete with dark-haired child with red bangs and sharp cat-eyed blue eyes. "What's the chances..."
The next time he saw blue eyes of disturbing intensity, it was in the lobby of the hotel he had tracked. Rather, he and Superman was present, yet the lobby remained strangely empty.
"This is about the most impractical meeting place," Yusei Fudo sighed as he walked up to them. "Was there something you needed? I was about to accompany my son to see this beautiful city."
"And this is the boy himself," Batman noted as Ryuusei Fudo walked up to them, holding a patently unimpressed face.
"Afternoon," Ryuusei greeted them. "Papa, Nakamura San is here, and insists on seeing you. Immediately."
"Is this about the lobby?" Yusei asked. "Because..."
"Go ahead," Superman pleasantly answered, both heroes standing. "We have time."
"Excuse me, gentlemen," the professor excused as he left.
"Are you people really heroes?" Ryuusei turned to them.
"Depends on who you're asking about," Superman uneasily answered. "Why?"
"I've never actually seen you people," Ryuusei honestly answered.
"We don't move much in Asia, not even considering Japan," It was Batman who answered. "Neo Domino City doesn't have its own heroes, do they?"
"They have Papa," Ryuusei answered. "Papa rebuilt the city with his work."
"The Nazca Lines incident, connected the the cult called the Dark Signers," Batman confirmed. "Strangely enough, no records of meta-human activity."
"What kind of meta-human would want to live in a city of Duel Monsters?" Ryuusei answered.
"True," Superman took over. "Let's talk about your parents, shall we?"
"Let's not," the barely-pubescent boy answered, his tone clear, and Batman smirked inwardly as a bunch of flowers nearby burst into full bloom as something remotely similar to a sunflower with a face appeared perched over the red bangs.
Got you.
The thing gave a tiny bark, and Zera a dry chuckle, as the blue eyes focused upon Zera in the vigilante's eyes.
"You too?" Ryuusei frowned.
"The tapes revealed Black Rose Dragon," Batman casually said as Yusei Fudo walked back into the waiting room of the lobby kindly provided by hotel security. "You can tell us what happened now, Fudo."
The professor blinked slightly, though his expression revealed nothing. "A dragon attacked the place and saved the day while your colleagues lay unconscious. I highly recommend a thorough sterilising. Gentlemen, my free time is at an end. Ryuusei, we have to see Lionel Sensei now."
"Ah, yes!" Ryuusei called as the professor left, turning a scrutinising eye upon both the super-heroes.
"You guys might be super-heroes, but you're not heroes," he stated, as if it were a fact before he left.
"We'll follow them," Batman decided. "This might give us answers."
Superman knew better than to argue. After all, the Bat was always right, and he would follow them even if Superman decided otherwise anyway.
"Dr Lionel comes highly recommended, nothing like the faker Aunt Ruka told you about," Yusei was rebutting as all the children got out to a shiny white building.
"I still don't trust psychologists," Ryuusei stubbornly insisted.
"Yes, but Neo Domino is facing a dearth in good psychologists enough that our own referred us here," Yusei answered. "Seika?"
"Is this... really needed?" Large violet eyes turned to him. "Ichihara Sensei was a nice lady..."
"Ichihara Yuuko specialises in psychic powers, not trauma-induced problems, Seika," Setsuka answered. "Jordan Lionel Sensei comes highly recommended."
"We'll be there for you," Ryuusei comforted as Setsuka glanced up to the roofs of the nearby building. "Don't worry."
"Setsu-chan?" Seika asked as the other brunette made no move.
"Ah, I just feel like standing outside for a moment," the girl answered, smiling. "Go on."
Her DuelDisk unfolded upon the entry of the trio into the building. "Come out."
"What is with Duellists..." Batman walked out of Metropolis's daytime shadows, frowning lightly as Superman dropped from the skies. "You're quite observant."
"Why are you following us?" the tiny girl questioning two full-grown men was laughable in itself, yet there had been stronger metas that were younger.
"We're hoping for answers and the professor's not cooperating," Superman answered truthfully, trying to be persuasive.
"He has no reason to," Setsuka answered. "You endanger Seika."
"I feel bad about taking on a child," Superman murmured quietly.
"Dark Knight," Setsuka muttered as the temperature rapidly dropped. "Dark knight... I summon Blue Ice White Night Dragon!"
With a roar, the ice dragon descended next to her, baring its teeth at the two heroes as it spread its wings out at them.
"...even with heat vision, that is going to take a while to thaw," Superman muttered.
"I really hate dragons," Batman grated at the icy beast loomed over them.
"Seika Kannazuki?"
"Call me Seika please," Seika answered the nice bearded doctor, happy that the man understood and spoke Japanese.
"I worked with Dr Ichihara for a long while and thus learned the language," Dr Lionel answered. "I also learned it to duel myself, because Japan currently holds the greatest known population of Psychic Duellists around the world. As a fellow psychic of course I had to."
"Sensei is a Psychic Duellist as well?" Seika asked, fascinated. "So cool! Setsuka is one as well, but she won't let me see her monsters. She only duels me if there's no Momentum involved."
"The manifestation of Momentum truly triggered it," Dr Lionel nodded. "So, Seika, Dr Fudo here says that you have a... selective condition, was it?"
"Really? I don't know," the girl pouted slightly. "I don't remember."
"With your permission, perhaps we could try some focus on the potential trigger," Dr Lionel steepled his fingers together, black eyes focused on Seika. "Let's go back, shall we? Dr Fudo?"
"We're merely here for moral support," Yusei answered, an arm around his son's shoulder.
"Very well, then." Dr Lionel leaned over, lifting a steel ball bearing on the pendulum on his desk. The soft ticking made by the bearings against each other as they swung made the motion hypnotic in comparison. "Let's go back five years, to that day..."
Outside of the relatively soundproofed office, the road had been covered in ice slick and the dragon was standing its ground against the Man of Steel, who was putting up a good fight as Batman handled the other monster.
"Batman to Watchtower!" the hero hissed into his comm-piece. "Flash!"
"I hear you, Bats. Unless you suddenly miss me, I'm gonna guess that-"
"Flash! What do you know about Ice Barriers!"
"Ice Barrier? Er, nothing. I know a popular staple is Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, Gungnir, and Trishula, and the three generals are pretty useful too..."
"Raiho! General Raiho of the Ice Barrier!" Batman scowled as he dodged a foot that landed,breaking through asphalt. The slender Asian with long black hair the foot was attached to, outfitted in elegant blue robes, glared back at him.
"Raiho? Er, Bats, how is this related?"
"I'm fighting him right now!" Batman dodged. "Superman's handling a Blue Ice White Night Dragon. We couldn't enter the building no matter what we threw, so what do we do?"
"Blue Ice- Wait, that's a White Night Dragon," extremely quick typing that no doubt also cost a keyboard followed as Batman dodged and countered fingers and jabs and kicks. "The dragon... you can control its attack target. That means, if whoever you're fighting wanted, you'd be fighting the dragon too."
Superman flew back, his body burying into asphalt from the sheer impact.
"I realised," Batman growled in answer. "Now, how do I defeat it?"
"Well, it negates anything you target at it, so either something that doesn't target, or overwhelming fire-power," Flash answered, now serious. "We have a few spare hands if necessary-"
"No!" Batman growled. "We're fighting a ten-year-old. Having one hero is already overkill."
The hand was quickly enveloped in ice as the monster named Raiho lifted the Batman to its mistress.
"I'm eleven," the girl petulantly answered. "Raiho, take it."
The monster held out a hand for it. Slowly, Batman handed over the chip-earpiece, silently praying that Flash never comprehended that he was defeated by an eleven-year-old girl's Duel Monster.
"Batman!" the Kryptonian yelled as he wrestled with the cold dragon. "Hang on-"
The incoming wave swept the world and Superman froze as he doubled over, the street lamps bursting and showering glass upon the streets in a cascade of glistening crystals in the faint sunlight.
"Seika!" the girl froze, hissing as she ran with the other monsters already fading into the air.
"Batman to Watchtower! Superman's down!" Batman used the Kryptonian's earpiece. "Hurry up! He's exhibiting signs of..."
Exposure to a red sun, his mind supplied.
"Exposure to a red... sun...?" the dark knight froze, his belt already pulling out a Geiger counter. No...
Within the office itself, Dr Lionel was seeing off the three, before looking at the ruins of his office and the sparking lights overhead as his desk shuddered. He pulled open a drawer, extracting a deck that gave off bright yellow sparks as his fingers neared it.
"This..." the doctor breathed, his eyes twinkling with something of false light. "I found it. I found her."
Please review! Stay tuned for the next turn: Judgement of Thunder! Duel, Acceleration!