The clanging of Yuuri’s whips—Or was it Fusion Venom’s—clashing with Magician’s staff slowly brings Yuugo out of his reverie.  He looks up from gaping blankly at his hands just in time to see Starve smack away another hound with his wickedly barbed tail.   The two Fighters’ silhouettes are little more than blurs as they trade blows, sending shockwaves through the air and the air is thick with the scream of thorns scraping through pavement accompanied by Magician’s mocking laughter.  And Yuuri… is being pushed back.

“Yuu… ri…” Yuugo mumbles, wide-eyed and panicky as his hands clench and unclench uselessly as his brain struggles to process it all.  It’s all too sudden.  He’s now presumably a Magical Fighter like Yuuri, short skirt and glittering sparkles and all.

You need to fight, the dragon’s words echo in his head and it hardens into resolve.

Yuugo lets out a growl and slaps himself in the face. Wake up, he screams at himself.  Why the hell is he focusing on useless details?  So what if he’s in a skirt—?!  At least it isn’t pink like Yuuri’s!

With thoughts of finally being useful firmly in mind, Yuugo lets out a piercing battle cry and throws himself into the fray, slamming his fist directly into the mouth of the next unfortunate hound to slip past Starve’s defenses.   The air is still for a moment, before the monster’s body cracks and whittles away into dust.

Yuugo takes a moment to glance at his own fist in awe before turning his fury at the rest of its packmakes.

“Leave Yuuri and the awesome dragon alone!”

“Hey!” Yuuri yells, glancing back at the new fighter. “I have a dumb magical name and this look for a reason!”

“Yuuri...?” Xyz Magician jerks back, twisting in midair and landing quietly on the tarmac a little way off. His eyes narrow and his lance returned to a staff. “I guess our date will have to wait until we’re somewhere more private.”

Starve growls, turning as Magician stepped back. “Magician-”

“Bye.”

Yuuri’s whip cracked through the air but Magician winks and vanishes into thin air. He growls and turns back to Stave, Synchro Wing and the hounds. He’s wasting time turning them into dust. 

“Learn to summon properly,” Yuuri snaps, running over. “You’ve got a battle charm. Use it.”

“Watch Venom,” Stave says as Yuuri launched a hound into the side of the road with a punch. Yuuri scowls and draws a circle, watching the matching on appear on the wall behind the hound. “Just letting them turn to dust sends them back to my world. Turning them into a card keeps them from coming back.”

“Summon! Hell Venus!” 

The huge gaping jaws of venus flytrap open up in the circle on more, and this time Yuuri moves around to throw another two hounds into the jaws as they close. And just as before, Yuuri pushes the circles together, compressing them and collecting the three cards that appear.

“He’s new,” Starve growls. “You have to teach him what to say to seal them.”

“Fine. Just this once, so watch carefully.” Yuuri throws out his hand and petals flash in the lights once more, the cards glowing. “Sad corrupted hounds, rest now until peace returns to the Dragon Lands.”

The cards flash and turn into small jewels before vanishing all together and Yuuri sighs, shoulders slumping slightly before turning to the rest of the hounds. “Your turn.”

Yuugo slowly looks down at himself with trepidation and feels hysteria bubble up in his throat as his brain starts to register more details, like how his hair is now half twisted up while the rest of it reaches down past his thighs.  A horrible thought occurs to him and he quickly pushes his hands against his chest and sags with relief when he finds it perfectly flat as always.

He draws in a deep breath and slowly exhales.  Then he draws another.  Nope, he’s just as freaked out as before as confused, jumbled thoughts tumble through his head.

Familiar Charms?  Introduction speeches? Bad guys?!

And now, two magical fighters, a full sized dragon, and a pack of mechanical hounds are all staring at him expectantly and it’s almost enough to send him into a nervous breakdown.

“Okay, okay, I’ll do it!” he shrieks, throwing his hands over his face in the vain hope that they’ll all stop staring at him.  He still has no idea what’s going on at all but he’ll give it a try.  Feeling like a tool, he randomly throws out his fist in a vaguely superhero-ish pose.

The words suddenly bubble out of his mouth without being prompted.

“Wondrous wings of light and hope!” he cries out, slashing his arm through the air and spreading a glittering trail of feather-shaped sparkles.  “Soaring through the radiant skies and striking down injustice! Magical Fighter, Synchro Wing!”  

He blinks, seemingly coming out of a trance and quietly freaks out again when he finds himself striking a pose.

“What… what even was that?!  What even–?” he whimpers, immediately breaking his mortifying stance and covering his face.  He’s practically an inch away from sobbing.  “… I wanna die.”

Xyz Magician sneers, twisting and spinning his staff and turning it into a lance once more. “That can be arranged.”

“Magician...” Starve growls getting between Magician and his fighters. “This isn’t you! You’re not like this-”

“Don’t patronize me,” Magician snaps, thrusting his lance straight at Starve. “Let’s see what the newbie can do.”

Yuuri growls, materializing his whip and darting forward. He knows it’s a trick. He’s trying to distract them one way or the other. Threatening the new kid while attacking Starve, whichever way he goes Magician will go the opposite way. So Yuuri goes straight for Magician. 

Magician sneers, twisting as their weapons meet and yanking Yuuri away across the road as the mechanical hounds surged forward towards Starve and the new fighter. Unfortunately Yuuri knows with experience comes power in this game and Magician is definitely more experience. 

Starve hangs back with Synchro Wing, protecting him from the hounds while he seems to still be in shock. 

“You need to fight,” he snaps. “Venom is fighting Magician but you have to fight too.”

Yuugo is momentarily blinded; his vision is completely filled with flashing lights and he can feel it condensing, forming into something solid against his skin.  It is strange and disorienting and the only thing that feels real is the hand clasped around his own and the presence by his side that is somehow unmistakably Yuuri.    It makes no sense at all since he had just literally met him, but something inside him is suddenly more aware of him in ways he had never felt.  The brilliant green energy wraps around his torso, spreading all the way to his fingers and toes and coiling in his hair.

It had felt like an eternity but only seconds had passed before Yuugo found himself standing on concrete once again.  Back to reality, just in time to gape at the other boy holding his hand.

Yuuri has transformed again, his purple hair now curled elegantly up on his head and he’s wearing an even shorter skirt and Yuugo feels his brain shut down as he suddenly launches into a ridiculously corny speech.   He vaguely registers that Starve is speaking to him and he slowly tilts his head at him questioningly.

His turn?  For what?!

It takes him an embarrassingly long time to realize that his clothes have changed too.

“…. Hold the fuck up, what—what the hell happened to my clothes?!” Yuugo exclaims, spinning around to try to see and inadvertently making his skirt flare out.  His crumpled uniform is long gone, replaced by a fluttery blue miniskirt and black and white striped stockings that reach up to his thighs.  “Oh my god, what?  What?”

Yuuri sighs and tilts his head as Starve growls. “You’ve been transformed like Yuuri. You have a Kingdom Charm and Yuuri had a Familiar Charm. And you have a Battle Charm there on your bracelet too. Like these two.”

Yuuri scowls but holds out his arms so he can see the merged charm that had let them transform and the plant-like charm that allowed him to attack. And being oddly cooperative for a rival, Xyz Magician reaches for the broach on his neck tie, showing the charms hanging there. Not just his merged charm, but several Battle Charms. It’s little wonder he’s so strong and obviously experienced. 

“Only bad guys don’t have introduction speeches,” Starve says firmly. “There are traditions, you can’t argue. You just need to feel it in your heart, throw out your hand and let the words bubble up. Believe in your heart.”

“That sounds ridiculous, Starve,” Yuuri mutters. “This entire thing is ridiculous. You know how stupid these things sound?”

“It’s tradition.”

“And it’s wasting time,” Xyz Magician says. “Please, just hurry up and say something magicial and embarrassing so that we can get on with things.”

Yuuri scowls back at Magician who just smiles in return. He really is going to drive Yuuri insane. He’d much rather just be fighting. But if he has to say something so embarrassing, his new partner did too. 

“Get on with it.”

In hindsight, charging blindly at a sinister looking magician who had almost effortlessly taken down the only person who could have stood against him… really isn’t a great plan.  But Yuugo hadn’t been thinking (as usual) of anything beyond a need to protect them.

Even if Yuuri is rude and unfriendly and even if Starve had eaten his toast… the pair of them had saved him.  They were weird and eccentric but in the end, Yuuri was a hero who had fought by himself for so long.  Trying to return that favour is the least that Yuugo can do.

…And Yuuri had offered to help him get his bike repaired free of charge so there’s no way he is letting anyone hurt him until he got his meal ticket back!

His intentions, while mostly noble, only ends up getting him smacked around.  Yuugo cries out involuntarily as the magician’s staff slams against his ribs with a sickening smack and he lands hard, skidding across the concrete.  He comes to a painful stop next to Yuuri where he does his best not to whimper.

“D-Damnit,” he gasps, his body curled up protectively over his ribs, even as he tries to push himself up again.  Starve is still in the evil magician’s grasp and the remaining hounds are starting to circle.  It definitely does not look good.

Until Yuuri suddenly speaks up.  Something about charms and kingdoms and… transformations?

“Haaah?” Yuugo exclaims, looking up from the little trinket Rin had given him to stare up at Yuuri dumbly.  “Wait, what?  What do you mean– Uwah!  What are you doing?!”

Yuugo’s face colours violently when Yuuri abruptly pulls him flush against him and his eyes snap down to their joined hands.  

“What– Magical Duel… Action…?!” he splutters at the same time Yuuri calls it out.

It’s enough.

A dizzying rush of warmth suddenly spreads from his hand and fills his body as a glowing dome springs up to envelope them and muffles Yuugo’s confused shouts.

“Magical Duel, Action!”

The light flashes and their charms merge into one. Xyz Magician is blocked from view by the light barrier. It’s different to Yuuri’s normal transformation. It’s warm and there’s so much light. Green rings and stars forming around them as the clothes appear. Tighter than normal and Yuuri feels lighter than ever.

He releases his partner’s hand and the charm splits into two identical bracelets. Yuuri sighs and flicks his hair, letting the magic twist it up as felt right.

The light fades and Yuuri narrows his eyes as Magician jumps back from a full sized Starve, roaring furiously.

“Say it this time, for the newbie,” he growls. 

Yuuri pulls a face but will allow it passed this once. He throws his hand up and the charm catches the light, throwing petal like sparkles around him. And he’s definitely ignoring Magicians sneering, or the stare that he’s no doubt getting from his partner.

“Beautiful and alluring! Hellish thorns under petals! Creating poisonous terror with hungering fangs! Magical Fighter, Fusion Venom!”

“Now you try,” Starve growls at his partner.

Yuugo blinks owlishly up at the newcomer and a bright, pink flush spreads across from the tip of his nose to light up his cheeks.  But his embarrassment is soon chased away by uncertainty as he takes in the man’s slightly sinister looking mask and long, dark cloak.

The only thing that is apparent is that he is no longer trapped (protected?) by Yuuri’s circle.  Had he been… saved?

For a moment, he just watches dumbly from the floor, watching XYZ Magician stride across the concrete to where Yuuri and Starve are locked in battle.  Yuugo lets out the breath that he had been holding, naively thinking that Yuuri would be okay.  That his allies had arrived.  Because every superhero needed a team, right?

But that relief is swiftly replaced with horror when he finally realizes that Magician’s weapon was aimed directly at Yuuri’s back!

“Yuuri!”  

Yuugo doesn’t even remember standing, but the next moment, his feet are already thundering across the concrete. His motions are completely unthinking and downright suicidal, but the only thought that now occupies his mind is that Yuuri is in danger.  A couple of mechanical dogs perk up in his direction, clearly sensing another easier target and leap at him with their fangs bared.  But Yuugo ducks and weaves through them with a surprising agility.  He didn’t have time to get mauled!  His classmate is in trouble!  

By the time he finally reaches them, Yuuri is down with the dark magical fighter holding the poor little dragon hostage.

Yuugo sees red.

“Leave Starve alone!  Yuuri too!” he shouts, coming out from left field and throwing himself onto the magician and tries to knock his grip loose.  “Pick on someone your own size!”

Xyz Magician grins a the kid’s insistence on interfering. He turns on his heel, swinging his staff and slamming it into his chest with enough force to break ribs. The kid is sent flying to land near his friend and he sneers down at the pathetic pair.

“You should stay out of things you don’t understand,” he snaps. “This isn’t a game. He’s lucky I’m letting him live at all. It more of a luxury than others would give him.”

“See, you haven’t changed at all!” Starve cries. “You still don’t want to hurt people!”

“No. I’d just rather let the hounds have them.”

Yuuri groans, struggling to force himself up despite his injury. He doesn’t want to fight. With Starve gone and his charm broken, he’d be able to go back to normal. But they’ll be torn apart by the hounds. 

“Hey,” he groans, staring at the other kid’s bag. At the charm hanging off it. “Hey, where did you get that charm?”

Magician turns. “What?”

“It’s a kingdom charm!” Starve cheers. 

Yuuri is already on his feet and grabs the bag, reaching down to help the other kid. “But there’s no familiar charm!”

“Your familiar charm isn’t broken! Put them together and you can both transform! Put them together and say ‘Magical Duel, Action!’”

“Again with the embarrassing magic words,” Yuuri grumbles, pulling his classmate close. “Fine.”

Starve doesn’t look nearly as cuddly, now that he’s bigger than a horse and has rows of sharp, slobber-covered teeth, Yuugo thinks faintly to himself.  But a tiny (stupid) part of him is still hung up on the part about dragons being real and is giddy at the idea that he’s going to be eaten by a dragon—ah, no, stop that.

Still, he heaves a small sigh of relief when Yuuri turns away.

“I wasn’t gonna tell anyone, honest,” he says earnestly. And who would even believe him if he told them that the scariest, most stuck-up honor student in their class spent all their free time hanging out with dragons and wearing a skirt?  Yuugo’s social status would plummet, even though he’s technically already at rock bottom.

Although he might actually fall through the ground, with how hard it is shaking.  Yuugo’s head snaps up in shock when a huge pack of robot dogs suddenly stampede towards them.  Could this day possibly get any weirder?

“Ah, wait— ” Yuugo calls out as another thought occurs to him, but Yuuri is already rushing into the fray.  “— You… you are… gonna come back for me, right?”

But as he watches Yuuri’s back grow smaller, he can’t help but feel that it looks like a very lonely back.  Just how long had his classmate been doing this by himself?  With nothing but a hungry dragon and monsters for company?  It’s little wonder he’s so unfriendly.  Even though he knows it’s ridiculous, Yuugo can’t help but want to help him somehow.   It just isn’t fair for anyone to have to handle that all alone.  And he absolutely hates being caged up.

Growling in quiet frustration, Yuugo leans up against one of the walls… only to yelp in shock when he topples through it just seconds later.  Spluttering, he looks up at the unfamiliar voice… only to see a guy in the stupidest mask he’d ever come across.

“… Hahh?  He’s a magical fighter too?” Yuugo mutters to himself confusedly, looking from the newcomer back to Yuuri.  He goes days without anything happening and now everything is happening all at once.

Yuugo has no idea what to think.  His mind is blank except for one lone thought:

Is this guy wearing a skirt too?

“You shouldn’t get involved in things like this,” the newcomer warns, poking Yuugo’s nose with the tip of his staff. “I’ll take care of things from here. You should just sit back and let the professionals take care of things.”

He turns and saunters off, leaving the boy on the ground as he heads towards Fusion Venom. A grin spreads across his face and he twists his staff absently in his hand as he approaches. Starve tears into the dogs and throws them into Venom’s magic seals. He lifts the staff slowly, the tip glowing and shifting into a sharpened lance.

“Venom!” Starve roars.

Yuuri’s whip cracks as he turns, spotting Magician’s lance coming straight at him. The thorny vine wraps around his wrist, yanking him off balance just enough and the tip flies passed his nose and straight into the mechanical dog pouncing at Yuuri’s back.

“Gotta be faster than that, Magician.”

“I knew you weren’t that easy,” the other replies. “Just messing around a little, what’s wrong with that?”

“You’re clairvoyant now? Think you can see my next move?”

“My piercing gaze can see into your heart, Venom.” Yuuri narrows his eyes and Xyz Magician’s smile twists in a sneer. “Sun in your eyes? You should watch that. Shadow can be tricky, you know?”

Yuuri’s eyes widen and he goes to jerk back but Magician twists and keeps his whip wrapped around his lance. Starve comes bounding over but the shadow beneath Yuuri’s feet comes alive. It’s too late by the time Starve reaches them and Magician flips away, landing with a light tap of heels, his second shadow snaking across the ground and rejoining him.

Yuuri staggers and Starve roars as Magician sneers, leveling his lance as Yuuri’s body glows and his outfit starts to fade. The shadow had pierced his charm. 

“Bye,” Magician laughs in English, shooting forward. 

Starve throws himself forward, knocking off Magician’s lance just as his own body fades into his small form once more. But it’s enough and the lance glances off Yuuri’s shoulder, sending him flying back with a burst of power. Magician staggers and Yuuri hits the ground, his outfit fading and returning him to his normal school uniform and state, lying face down in the road with one of his charm’s broken.

“Well, I suppose he’s no threat like that anyway,” Magician sighs, transforming his lance back to a staff and picking up Starve’s tiny form by his tail. “You can live.” He sighs and turns away, carrying a squirming Starve away. “Look after Venom for me, won’t you? He was a good opponent for what it’s worth.”

National Kissing Day, you say? Send a 💓 if you’d like a kiss from my muse.

Yuugo cringes back a little at the sheer resentment that is practically rolling off of Yuuri in waves and by the end of his tirade; Yuugo feels less than two inches tall.  He hurriedly opens his mouth to explain, anxious that he might have offended his classmate.  All he had wanted to do was express his admiration!

“Look, I’m sorry, okay?  I wasn’t tryin’ ta make fun of you or anything!” he protests, red climbing up from his neck to the roots of his hair.  “I just thought—Well, you sorta did save me right? From that big rat thing.” The hairs on the back of his neck tingle from the memory of hot plasma passing over his head and belatedly, very belatedly, it starts to sink in just how close he had come to death.   “That’s… that’s sort of amazing, right?  I mean, even if you say you’re just tryin’ ta survive or whatever, but you were really cool! And you helped me out when you didn’t hafta.”

Yuuri’s circling makes him grow more and more flustered and he has to crane his neck to still see him properly. Ribbons of light trail from his feet but it doesn’t occur to Yuugo at all that they have a purpose. Until a glowing dome suddenly springs up around him, and fades away just as abruptly. Yuugo lets out a help and stumbles back, only to ram into something solid.  He looks around in bafflement, seeing nothing but encountering resistance all the same. 

“Uh. What’s goin’ on?” he questions, turning to Yuuri with an expression of slow realization blooming on his face.  

Yuuri wouldn’t actually—would he?  

Yuugo swallows once. For the first time, a little frisson of unease makes its way up his spine as Starve meets his gaze hungrily.  “… nice dragon?”

“Hungry dragon,” Starve rumbles in reply.

“You’re always hungry, Starve,” Yuuri sighs, hands going to his hips. 

He scowls, turning his attention to his classmate. He doesn’t want to feed him to Starve. It just takes too much covering up. Maybe he could just say the monster got him. And Starve wouldn’t complain about more food.

After a moment, Yuuri sighs and turns away slightly. “Alright. We’ll let you go. But you have to keep your mouth shut. And, you’re not allowed to get involved, understand? I don’t want or need any help. Especially not from some unqualified breakable kid. I don’t want your blood on my hands.”

It’s bad enough being tasked with saving the four Dragon Kingdoms or something like that. He doesn’t need to be keeping this kid safe as well. He just wants to get on with this and get back to a normal life.

The ground shakes again and Yuuri turns once more. A pack of large mechanical dog is prowling towards them. Yuuri can’t help but roll his eyes. More?

“You stay in there,” Yuuri snaps, tapping the shield around his classmate. “At least that way nothing can get to you and you can’t try to help. Let’s get this over with, Starve.”

A thorny whip flashes into life in his hands and he heads towards the pack without any hesitation. Starve turns and glances at the other boy. 

“He’s right. You’re safe. The monsters can’t break the seal. It’d take another Magician- uh, Magical Fighter, to undo that magic. Or, you know, Yuuri’s death. His magic would undo if something happened to him.”

With that cheery thought, Starve turns to chase after Yuuri. 

It’s in Starve and Fusion Venom’s moment of distraction that a new fighter slips in, wrapped in a dark cloak and mask. He laughs, voice cold and deep as he raises a purple staff. The tip glows yellow and magic circle breaks.

“Magical Fight Xyz Magician, at your service,” he says, bowing deeply. “You’re Venom’s friends, correct? You want to help him?”

// request for @coldhollowsmiles who wanted magical girl!yuugo 

so here’s a doodle of him mid-transformation?? b/c what is colouring

Yuugo is completely mesmerized, blue eyes glued to his classmate’s graceful motions, watching him flit through the air almost like he’s dancing.  The creature groans as it stumbles from the force of his blow, sending shockwaves that nearly knocks Yuugo off his feet.

He manages to grab onto one of the walls, slowly realizing that he really ought to be getting out of the way.  But he finds himself rooted to the spot, just staring with his mouth slightly agape.  It also doesn’t help that the colourful ribbons streaming behind him and the fluttering skirts are also extremely distracting.  But what is definitely even more distracting is how Starve is suddenly much bigger and much more impressive!  His eyes practically light up as he gazes up, drinking in the sight of Starve’s enormous, drooling maw and wickedly sharp claws.  

A real life dragon!  In the flesh!

But at Yuuri’s irritated accusation, he yelps and ducks his head, cheeks flaming scarlet as he throws his hands up in denial.

“I-I I wasn’t!” he protests.  “I swear I wasn’t!  Not on purpose!”   Although he’s not sure if it’s better to admit that he had noticed that Yuuri had rather nice legs.

Before Yuugo knows it, it’s all over; the writhing monster is swallowed up by a giant circle of light and he is left blinking hard, looking rather dazed as he gawks at Yuuri, still clad in all his splendor, and Starve… who is looking far too hungry for Yuugo’s comfort.

He jumps back a little, an almost indignant look on his face as he presses his knees together, almost like he is trying to safeguard his tender and juicy thighs. 

“I won’t tell anyone! Promise,” he says hastily, suddenly feeling a wave of nervousness at being subjected to their sudden scrutiny.  “But… You’re so cool!  Why don’t you want people to know?  You’re like a superhero!  … even if you’re wearing a skirt, but you’re still really cool!”

Yuuri scowls, tugging down the hem of his skirt and glaring furiously at his classmate. This is necessity, not desire. This idiot had seen him and was making jokes! 

“I am nothing like a superhero,” he hisses. He snaps his heels and the ground beneath his feet glows. He’d teach this idiot a lesson. He circles his classmate slowly, a new magic circle forming with each step. “I am not doing this for justice or goodness. I didn’t choose this, it was thrust upon on me. If I don’t fight those monsters they will kill me.”

The magical girls finally link up and Yuuri steps back, letting it form around his classmate and forming a holding spell. Being a legendary magician is some time more useful that he’ll admit.

“No one is going to find out because if they do they’ll expect me to be some kind of hero,” he says, shaking his head, gazing at Starve. “How do you think people react to magical fighters and dragons? They’ll expect saving. Just like Starve expects me to save these dragon kingdoms. I just want to survive. If you think this is cool, maybe I should just let Starve eat you. These things kill. It’s not a game.”

And why is he even bothering? The idiot isn’t going to listen, is he? He may as well give up and let the dumbass get involved and get himself killed. 

Yuugo freezes—

At first, it’s due to the shock of the impact and the scorching heat that passes overhead, tongues of hot plasma practically licking at his skin.

But then, he’s freezing for entirely different reasons as he gapes at his classmate, at the violet flash that consumes his body, and then…

Yuugo just sits there, frozen where Yuuri had shoved him out of the way and he takes the time to contemplate the ponderous mysteries of the universe.  He wonders about dragons and magic and enormous fire-breathing rats.

But most of all, he’s gaping at the fact that Yuuri is now suddenly wearing a skirt.

Also, his hair seems to have grown to his waist in the span of seconds, and he’s suddenly in heels and there’s ribbons and lace and he punches back the creature with far more force than human should have been capable of.  But as he watches the monster fly backwards through the air, all he can think of is,

Why a skirt?

Yuuri scowls. The monster is shaking itself off and getting back to its feet already. How boring. 

“Stave,” he calls. 

Starve spirals down from the sky, now larger than the monster and looking more like a dragon should, saliva dripping from his jaws as he lands on the monster and bites deep into it, injecting his venom. 

“He doesn’t taste nice,” Starve growls, voice having dropped lower as he grew. He actually sounds like a threat now rather than a child’s toy. But the rat monster is staggering and Yuuri scowls. “Let’s just card it already.”

“This isn’t my first time,” Yuuri snaps back. 

He jumps from his perch, twisting gracefully in midair and slamming his heels into the back that rat monster. Shock waves shook the ground as the creature’s legs collapsed, falling onto its stomach.

“Look up my skirt and your next,” he snaps, glaring at his classmate, their eyes locking for a moment before he launches back into the air high above the creature. His hands begin to glow softly and time seems to slow as he draws a circle in the air, a matching magical circle appearing beneath the monster. “Summon! Hell Venus!”

The circle beneath the monster blazes and a giant Venus Fly Trap opens up, jaws slowly closing around the struggling poisoned monsters. Yuuri pushes down on his own magical circle, trapping the monster between them, compressing it and forcing it smaller and smaller until the magic circles met with a bright flash. There’s a soft click of heels touching the ground and Yuuri brushes off his dress once more before snatching the card from midair. 

“Say the thing,” Starve rumbles.

“I’m not saying it, it’s embarrassing.” He turns and glares at his classmate. “Magical Fighter Fusion Venom. You breath a word otherwise and Starve will eat you.”

Starve growls softly, moving around and sniffing at the other boy, practically drooling over him already. “Your thighs look juicy and tender.”

Yuugo hastily grabs the bag that Yuuri tosses at him, holding it almost defensively.  His bike slides out of his grasp and clatters loudly to the ground, but he barely even notices.

“What the heck…” he mumbles, blue eyes darting around as his brain frantically tries to catch up to the situation at hand.  He could feel the tremors in the ground, rippling through the ground like a tsunami tearing across the shore.  Each one jars his bones and makes his ears ring.  It takes him a while, but he finally comes to the horrible realization that he is hearing footsteps.

A gasp involuntarily leaves his throat as he looks up at the monstrous form that suddenly appears and his mind draws a complete blank.  Because this is impossible; forget talking dragons and magic, giant rat creatures should not exist.

“What the heck?!” he exclaims, unable to resist the urge to rub his eyes. So he does.  But the enormous rat-like creature is just as large, just as real, and just as hell bent on vaporizing everything around him.

But he doesn’t have the luxury to stop and stare.  Not when the creature finally notices them and reels back with a hideous roar, death glowing at its frothing mouth as it prepares to fire off another beam.

Directly at Yuuri.

This snaps him out of his stupor and Yuugo runs.

But not away.  

“Watch out!” he screams, running after his classmate at full speed and slamming into him at full speed and knocking them both over – just in time as the beam sails overhead.

Yuuri yelp as he’s knocked to the ground and instinctively rolls and twists to kick the side of whoever it is trying to stop him- 

Only to realise too late to stop that its the other boy. 

Fuck it! He growls and staggers up, glaring down at the boy and Stave flutters over again, eager to find out what the hold up is. Idiot. Starve hisses and flutters down to the boy’s face as Yuuri takes off at a run to distract the monster and lead it away.

“Stay out the way,” Starve snaps. “You’ll get in Yuuri’s way. And then everyone will die!” He turns and flies after Yuuri. “Hurry, Yuuri!”

“I am hurrying!” Yuuri argues. 

The monster is completely focused on him now and Yuuri ducks another blast of its disintegration beam thing. Yuuri has really stopped trying to give proper logic to these things. He jumped down over the barrier at the edge of the road and slid down the bank on the other side. The strange monster roared and followed, barreling through the guard rail and chasing after him. 

Yuuri purses his lips. He hates this bit. Two of the charms on his bracelet fit neatly together, two halves on one whole, and light engulfs him. It’s disgusting, but this is his life. He turns on his heels and lands a solid punch on its nose, sending it flying back onto the road. It collapses in a heap and Yuuri bounces up to land daintily on one of the street lamps.

“How disgusting,” he sighed, glaring down at the monster. He sighs and shakes his head, brushing down this disgusting purple dress, pushing back his new hair style and narrowing his eyes at the monster. “Just stay down. I’m not in the mood to play.”

Yuugo flinches slightly at Yuuri’s unexpected vehemence and nearly guides his bike into a lamp post when his steps falter; all he did was just ask a few questions!  For someone who had a magical, talking dragon, Yuuri seems rather disenchanted with the whole thing.  Bored and displeased with everything.

On the other hand, Starve seems friendly and more than happy to chatter along.  Yuugo listens in rapt attention, his imagination whirling at the mentions of legendary magicians, destinies, dragon kingdoms?! Four of them?!

He cocks his head to the side, eyeing the odd pair in bemusement as they bickered. It really makes him wonder how two polar opposites ended up together.  Yuuri certainly doesn’t look the part of a legendary magician, more like a bored, tired student skipping class.

His brows knit into a small frown as a sudden thought occurs to him; normal high school boys didn’t have magic or miniature dragons living in their bags, did they? Something like this only happens on TV or in manga.

“Uh, why does the Dragon Kingdom need saving–?” he starts to ask but he’s interrupted when a deafening shriek rips through the area. The ground shakes, hard enough that it nearly knocks him off his feet and into the wall.  

Yuuri staggers half a step, face twisting into a snarl and Starve climbed up onto his shoulder, glaring at the corner of the road. He hisses, his tail going straight and ridged as he glares.

“There’s one here!” 

“Yes, I noticed,” Yuuri replies. He sighs and glances at the other kid before tossing his bag at him. “Do me a favour. Keep that safe and run. Keep yourself safe too. That bike isn’t going to be the only thing that gets broken if you don’t.”

This is ridiculous. Now of all moments. But he supposes that’s what happens when you’re in this situation. He’s a legendary Magician apparently. He’s going to face these creatures. He has no choice. They just keep coming for him. 

A huge armadillo like creature covered in spiky armour comes ambling around the corner, blasting out yellow balls of energy from its mouth, dissolving the world around it into dust. Yuuri swallows thickly and Starve flutters off towards it. 

And Yuuri has no real option but to follow. He should at least draw the monster away from his classmate. He glances back at the other boy as he runs towards the monster.

“Run!” he snaps.

Starve is an odd name for a dragon, Yuugo thinks to himself as he continues to trail along. Though it does seem to fit, with how unashamedly voracious his appetite seemed to be.  

And rather cute for a dragon.  Yuugo lets out a rather wistful sigh as he finds his gaze drifting over to the little creature poking his head out from the bag and couldn’t help but admire its tiny horns and venomous looking teeth.  

“Wait, so,” he mumbles to himself, trying to fight the pieces together in his head.  He could probably be forgiven for being a little slow on the uptake (probably), since within ten minutes he has discovered that 1) dragons exist, 2) dragons can talk, and 3) the stuck up, glasses-guy can actually be nice.  It has been a much more eventful start than he is used to.

“So are you saying you’re magic?  Like some kinda witch?!” he can’t help but blurt out … and doing the exact opposite of heeding Yuuri’s advice on not asking questions.

“That’s so cool! What kind of magic can you do? Can you fly? Travel back in time?  How did you get magic? Do you ride a broom?!”

Yuuri narrows his eyes. What did he just say? 

“I’m not saying anything of the sort,” he snaps. “The dragon seems convinced and insists so. And the term is Magician. There is no broom, no magic, no time travel or flying of any kind. Nothing exciting, just a dragon that insists I have some great destiny and won’t leave me alone or stop eating my lunch.”

“Our lunch,” Starve corrects. “Since you’re mine, what’s yours is mine. See? That’s how our relationship works.”

It’s all Yuuri can do to keep from rolling his eyes. Idiots. Both of them. What’s his is his and he certainly doesn’t belong to some tiny hungry dragon and this stupid fate with this stupid bracelet. This is not fun anymore!

Not that it ever was.

“Yuuri is a legendary Magician,” Starve says and Yuuri does roll his eyes now. “And the Spell Charms on his bracelet let him use his magic and it’s his destiny to save the four Dragon Kingdoms from-”

“Starve!”

He really didn’t need to know all this. All they were doing was getting his bike fixed and taking a day off from school. He doesn’t have to explain Yuuri’s entire life story to some random stranger on the streets. And its all pointless anyway. He seems to be doing very little saving. Mostly just running for his life and destroying things.

“It’s not important,” he says firmly, glaring back at the other boy.

Yuuri shrugged. “That’s Yuugo’s problem, not mine. I’m just follow his lead fora laugh. Why not? It’s not like there’s anything better to do, right?” He smiled and tilted his head, tracing the petals of one of his dear plants. So pretty and simple compared to his companions. If only he didn’t have to put up with them. “There’s little else to do, is there? Other than sitting around bored, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”