Ice Flower

Chapter 31

"Mind if I come in?" Kayla called through the shut door of the hotdog truck.

"Who is this?" Kolter demanded from inside.

"Just Kayla."

"Oh, sure." The door opened and Kolter stepped aside so she could enter. 

She wasn't that surprised to see Yusaku, Roken, and Sky in the truck as well. The computers were booted up and showing different parts of Link VRAINS.

"Looks like we have someone who can break our tie." Sky smiled. "Kayla, Yusaku and I were thinking that it would be a bad idea to try and set up a meeting with the leader of Spriggan while Roken and Kolter think it's a good idea. What do you think?"

"Uh..." She was at a loss for words. "Spriggan is that duelist organization you were telling me about earlier, right?" She asked Roken.

He nodded. "It is."

"So why do you want to talk with them?"

"It's important to know what your enemies' motives are, and as of right now, we have no idea what they want. Kolter thinks that if we distract them he might have a shot at infiltrating their database."

"Yusaku, Sky, why do you all think that we shouldn't meet with them?"

"Three reasons," Yusaku said matter-of-factly. He nodded at Sky. 

"One: Meeting with them could be dangerous," Sky began. "They could use it as an opportunity to set up a trap and capture us. Two: We could use our time to do other things, like finding Glacier, who clearly has a lot of information on them already. Three: We don't need to know what their motives for attacking us are. Sooner or later, we'll find out."

"Yes, but by then it may be too later," Roken argued.

"We won't know until that happens," Sky reminded him. 

"Well?" Kolter asked. "What do you think?"

Kayla considered it. Their arguments were all fairly solid, even if Roken and Kolter had two reasons instead of three.

"I think that you all should set up a meeting with them."

They all stared at her. "What?!"

She stared back. "Is something wrong?"

"It's just that, well, you didn't really seem like the type who would agree to that plan." Sky frowned. 

"This just seemed like the better corse of action." She shrugged. "Two of you could go to meet with them while the other two could stay behind and hack their database. Either way you'll probably find something out that will benefit you in the future."

"The girl makes a fair point." Kolter nodded. "But before we start planning, does anyone know how to contact them in the first place?"

None of them had an answer.

While they thought, Sky's phone began to ring. She answered it and a few seconds later looked worried.

"Who is this?" She demanded. "How did you get my number?"

Everyone leaned in to hear who she was talking to.

"Blue Maiden, we would like to speak with Playmaker," The person on the other side of the line said. 

"Sorry, but you've got the wrong person." A crease appeared between her eyebrows.

"No we don't. We hacked your account ages ago, back when you and The Gore teamed up to help Playmaker save Link VRAINS from the Knights of Hanoi."

Sky narrowed her eyes and put her phone on speaker. "What do you want?"

"I told you already. I know that you can contact Playmaker. I would like to speak with him."

Sky reluctantly handed the phone over to Yusaku.

"What is it that you wish to talk about?" He asked.

"I was thinking about setting up a duel between the two of us," The man continued. "I win and you give me the location of Glacier and her real world identity. I know that you have it. But if you win I'll give you whatever you want."

"You'll hand yourself in to the police?" Yusaku's eyes narrowed.

"If that is what you wish, then yes. I am a man of my word, though I doubt that I'll need to keep it since there's no way that I will lose."

"Actually, we were just about to set up a meeting with you," Roken jumped in before Yusaku could respond. "What do you think?"

"I think that a duel would benefit us more than simply talking."

Kayla's heart pounded in her ears. There was no way, no way, that she could let her brother duel that man. If he could be called that while on the duel field.

"Can I have the phone?" She whispered to Yusaku.

He hesitated for a moment, but must've caught the desperate look in her eyes because he nodded and gave it to her.

She took a deep breath to compose herself. This was it. It was time to lay all her cards on the table, or most of them anyway.

"This is Commander Iris," She said, keeping her voice cool and calm. "Requisition permission to speak with the general."

"Ah, Iris. Long time since you went by that name." She could hear the smile in his voice while the others in the room stiffened. "What brought about the change in heart?"

"I knew that it was probably the only reason that you would listen to me. I'm afraid that a duel with Playmaker will not be possible."

Yusaku sent her an alarmed look. 

"We will send you a location to meet us at so we can talk. You have twenty-four hours before the offer expires."

"I'll only show if you do. The real you, just like you used to be, and make sure that you're not some hologram. I'll know if you aren't. You can bring along one other person- I don't care who it is."

"Deal." With that, she ended the call.

The others stared at her with mixed expressions.

"Yeah, there's a lot I haven't told you guys," She said, rubbing the back of her neck guiltily.

AN: I tried to make this chapter longer than normal to make up for the last one. I hope you enjoyed!