ow the edge (open)

[blue_ice]

Who: Kaiba (blue_ice) and you!
When: One early September morning
Where: All over campus!
What: DUELS. In any and every game. Or try to talk him down from this madness, idk.
Warnings: Excessive edgy shonen rival behavior. Possibly some dark themes, will be labeled in subject lines!


Kaiba's request, in hindsight, was a foolish one. Every interaction between their worlds and this one thus far had been a disaster with unintended consequences, why would this be any different? And why would he risk his most priceless possessions this way? He could kick himself, but that's not going to save his Blue Eyes White Dragons. His hand trembles as he holds them, watching their attack and defense values slowly tick toward zero.

You are not the worthy heir we chose, says the trio of voices in his ear. Your emotions have made you weak. We seal our power from you until you prove that the spirit of a champion lurks within. Crush your foes with precision! Or are you now a coward?

No. He's no coward. Kaiba sweeps through the hallways with an icy expression, searching for prey. Any instrument they might hold for a game draws him...a deck of Fantastic Foils cards. A basketball. A chess board. A wand. Any game, anywhere...he absolutely must win. He swivels to face his chosen opponent.

"You. Duel me. Now."

Are you game? Or more inclined to tell him he's out of his mind? It's your move.

Comments

[replaceme]

It takes her a minute to process that. Hm. She doesn't think she could sit still long enough for a conventional game. And sports she's just not good enough at, though he'd probably like that, since his intention is to win. "Magical duel." She blurts out. It'd be a competition for them both, she's sure, and she could hide her ailment, since she needs to release the necrotic magic that's tearing her apart. She rips her arm back from him and takes a step back. "In the courtyard. Right now."

Nyx doesn't seem the least bit pleased. "Look what you did, Kaiba." He tsks. "It looks like I'll be picking up the pieces. Lucky me. I'm always tasked with what's fun." He turns tail and with a couple of flaps he puts himself in the lead.

[ahew_kha]

Another reason she's glad she has literally nothing worth bringing to this place, she doesn't have to worry about this kind of a mess. Bonuses to being a poor outcast or whatever.

"Just... be careful, please?" She barely knows him and yet she still can't help but worry, the familiar visage but entirely different personality and motivations, yet she can't help herself at the end of the day.

Until he's worrying over her and she's just pursing her lips in return. "I'll be fine. It seems myself and that card aren't on the same page to begin with, so I doubt there would be any difference towards myself due to it." As far as she's aware, everything has been perfectly normal for her.

[blue_ice]

"You always were my greatest opponent."

Nearly unbeatable. Nearly. But the dark skies and the wind chill drew him closer. He rubbed at his arm, wincing when he felt the sting of the thorns in the bushes that had torn at his arm. Nothing too deep, only a trickle, but he'd have to replace his uniform again.

He waited until they'd cleared the roots before continuing, hovering his pale blue lightning orb to act as his guide. He thought it'd be prudent to keep both hands free.

He reached into his inner breast pocket and withdrew one of the familiar Blue Eyes cards, passing it to Yugi. The familar line with their values now read ATK 2498, DEF 2021. A few seconds later, they red ATK 2497 DEF 2020.

"I asked the researchers to retrieve them. In hindsight, I should've known better than to take such a stupid risk. When I touched them, they told me I was no longer worthy to be their champion and began depleting. If I don't win a duel before they hit zero, they're gone forever."

He kept his gaze locked straight ahead as he explained, fighting to keep his tone even. Conflicting desires tore at him even now...to stay and fight, or to run. He stopped at a crossroads...right or left? And went left, stopping as his head spun. The air here felt heavier, making him feel drowsy...

"Don't breathe---" and he fought the sudden weight of the air to reach blindly for him, conjuring two oxygen bubbles for them. A cold, cruel laugh split the air and he bristled. The ghost dragon. A memory of Noa's struggle and his own silence flashed through his mind, and he pressed close to Yugi.

"We're getting out. I can't fail you."

[blue_ice]

"Pick up whose pieces?"

Kaiba nodded tersely and stepped through to the courtyard, twirling his wand in his hand. He stares across the way at her...she sure had a way of surprising him. "Ready?"

[blue_ice]

"Good. I don't need any more guilt to bear."

And...well, and he's just glad she's all right. He nods. "I'll see you later. When this settles we'll see about those books."

[replaceme]

Nyx doesn't add anything and instead just goes outside to clear the area, so other students don't get caught up in it. Lady is mindful of that; however, and is quick to cast an enormous bubble around the courtyard to prevent other students from being able to enter. A lot of them groan, but she immediately shoots a look at them, and they immediately know better than to argue. She turns toward Kaiba and before she draws her own want she shoots a terrifying black magic and the ground which immediately turns black and feathers out, the ground seeming to seize to its touch. Any grass and flowers dying in its wake. Her wand is in her hand next.

"I'm ready." As soon as she says that she's sending a powerful stunning spell in his direction.

[puzzlers]

"It's not a stupid risk, Kaiba, because those three cards are some of your most prized and precious possessions." He frowns, slowing to an immediate stop when he tells him that. "You know that's not true, right? and that's just another test." He starts walking again. "You are absolutely worthy of them. The only person, in fact, and I know you'll be able to overcome this."

Yugi waves his wand and the light that had been sitting at the end of it becomes and orb just like Kaiba's, floating alongside his head to light the way. Yugi hadn't followed Kaiba, and had instead stopped at the crossroad, looking at the marks etched at the center when Kaiba had instructed him not to breath. He looked over at him, staring at the bubble and watching his wide eyed boyfriend freak out.

He'd been through his maze a few times and had been made to confront plenty of terrible things. The physical stuff always faded, but the emotional stuff... stuck around. "Kaiba..." He reached out for him, tugging him back toward the split in the path. "I know. I trust you and your strength. We will get out with you leading the way. You'll beat this maze. It is our opponent and you will absolutely crush it. Keep that in mind. Keep your Blue-Eyes in mind and you. will. win."

[blue_ice]

And ready she is. Kaiba throws up a deflector as quick as he can, but it's only mostly effective and his arm numbs. He bites back a curse and takes his wand into his other hand. He just can't rely on any spell that requires glyphic precision.

He fires two in quick succession---a lashing flame at her feet and a light shock from his lightning orb just to the right, as he expects her to dodge in that direction.

This...is going to be tough. He just has to survive.

[blue_ice]

Yugi's soft encouraging words are welcome. He wants so badly to believe them. But he knows he needs to live up to that and recover his inner strength if he's to stand a chance of facing down the challenge and getting them out.

He allows Yugi to tug him back, clutching his hand a moment longer than necessary. He nods and kneels to turn his gaze to where Yugi had been looking...the marks. Another puzzle, of sorts. He doubts it's as simple as a map, but he does see something resembling the corridor to the right. A map of traps to avoid, he thinks.

Mind made up, he slowly moves forward, dodging left and right and noting the way the ground rumbles at certain spots. "I promise, Yugi. I'll do this. But you still haven't told me what this even is, or why you're so nonchalant about it. Did you ask for the ability to summon puzzles?"

Just as he says that, the ground quakes. He curses, grabs Yugi, and leaps for a stone platform embedded in the path ahead. This...isn't the best place to talk, but seriously Yugi, what the hell?

H-O-R-S-E

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

A basketball. And it got passed to her--sort of. It bounced off Isabel's chest, and she arched a brow at who'd thrown it at her. Well, she'd gotten used to Kaiba's sort of gruff and aggro attitude, but someone had dialed it up to 11 since she'd seen him last.

Hmm. Intuition told her that there was more to this than she was seeing...

"What's eating you, Seto? I mean, we can play, but I'm not gonna let you push me over, even if we're friends, you know." Leaning over, she picked up the ball. At least playing him would take her mind off her own problems. She tilted her head at him, spinning the ball on one fingertip like she was a recruit for the Harlem Globetrotters. "So how do you want to go about this. Gotta abide by the rules and laws, y'know." Though Isabel was pretty much open to anything.

[temptationaccomplished]

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kaiba." Aziraphale was all manners, even in face of a brusque attitude.

"Oh, many!" he said, more than delighted. It had been a while. Having a long existence meant a lot of time to learn social leisure games. The gentlemen at the club had been especially fond of parlour games, but he had learned cards as well (and Crowley had taught him a few interesting ones over drinks in pubs). It was difficult to recall them all and probably missed a few of both the best known and more obscure.

"Rummy, of course, and Beggar-My-Neighbour. Egyptian Ratscrew--terrible name, of course--Old Maid, that one with the Eights, and Go Fish. Bridge and Whist, but that would require more players usually. Blackjack. Baccarat, though I haven't in forever and I'm afraid I'd need a refresher. A few variations of poker, naturally." Ah, yes. Naturally.

[blue_ice]

"What's eating me is that I need to play someone. Now."

He watched her skill with the ball and silently cursed himself. Maybe this was a bad idea...but he couldn't back down now. "Two hoops. One court. First to three baskets wins. Deal?"

He's really trying not to lose his patience any more than he already has, but this is a disaster.

[blue_ice]

"Nothing Egyptian," he says almost reflexively, shaking his head. "Poker will do. Seven card?"

[temptationaccomplished]

A brow raise. Not that he couldn't understand the objection to the name, but specifically objecting to anything Egyptian was a curious trait.

"Seven card stud? That's fine." He riffle-shuffled the deck with the ease of someone who handled cards before, but thought himself much better at it than he was. Aziraphale had once learned magic from a professional magician, and while he couldn't quite do card tricks well, he could at the very least handle cards with the ease of a mother prepping the deck for the kids' game of Uno. The back of the top card flashed with a message that hadn't been there before: HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR. "Except I must warn you, I don't have much of anything to bet with."

[daughterofclay]

Jude looks up from the deck of playing cards she's shuffling. She's sitting comfortably on a little sofa not far from the Valhudor dormitory, though she's clearly wearing Gekronus Maius colours. An oak table with ornate legs is in front of her.

"...sure."

She motions him towards the chair opposite her.

"What are we dueling for?"

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Okay." She'd say 'your funeral', but she's not that cocky. And really, this isn't a martial arts match--Kaiba might be in more danger there. Isabel wouldn't do that to him, though--it'd be a contest of skill only. Like this is about to be.

"Since you're the challenger, you take the first shot." She dribbled the ball a bit from hand to hand, but then passed it to him. Pretty clear to Isabel that this was simply a game, but something more to Seto. She literally had nothing to lose, so she could afford to be courteous!

He had height on her, though. This might not be a cakewalk--but it wouldn't be a real game if she didn't give him a run for his money!

[noasark]

Noa, suffice to say, is a little baffled. Especially with THAT kind of look.

"...............why...?" Noa is narrowing his eyes. Are you cursed. Are you cursed like HE was cursed a while back? He's unsure.

[blue_ice]

"A simple test of skill. Stakes are unnecessary, unless you'd like to wager something."

He's trying to sound calm about this, but...it's very difficult to be calm about this when he's in a hurry.

"Which games do you know"

[blue_ice]

"Because my dragons have left me and this is the only way to regain their trust," he says tightly. Because that totally makes sense.

[blue_ice]

"Fine."

Kaiba crouched into position, shifting the ball from hand to hand like he'd seen done before. He had coordination and focus, if not practice...so his first shot---close, but bounces off the rim. He bites back a curse and tosses back at her.

[blue_ice]

"That's fine, I wasn't looking for a wager. I only need to play."

He waves his wand, summoning a pile of little colored stones that can be used as chips. Kaiba is honestly a little rusty at this game, but the rules are simple enough to remember. He takes his hand and considers a play, starting off conservatively to try to get a read on his opponent.

Even as serious as the situation is for him, he snorts when the card flashes. What a strange message.

"Do you play often?"

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"You probably should try to block me, you know." Not that it'd be difficult for him, considering Kaiba's got some inches on her. She dribbles again, eyeing him, watching him carefully.

She feints towards the hoop that he'd just tried to make a basket in--and then turns, making a beeline for the other one, driving down the court. Gotta make him chase her, really hustle and work for it! Isabel doesn't know what's going on, but if he's trying to prove himself in some way? She won't let him make a poor showing, at least.

Isabel stops at the three-point line, doing her best to make that shot before Kaiba can reach her--but it bounces off the backboard. Too much force! She just shakes her head ruefully and tosses him the ball.

"All you, sport!"

[temptationaccomplished]

"Can't say that I have in a while," he admits, after dealing their hands and examining his cards and his opponent's visible ones.

He isn't sure what to make of Seto Kaiba, but he can't possibly be as wily as Aziraphale's usual competitor, so he isn't too concerned. And nothing but pride and bragging rights is at stake. No money, miracles, fiddles of gold, or clothes to be lost in the process.

The card backs flash another semi-ominous, overall ridiculous message before fading away.

"I once played seven card stud on a brief excursion in the Americas, on one of those grand riverboats they like so much, but I've been a bit too busy as of late to spare time for card games." Armageddon to thwart and all that. "Bookshop to run, you know. Are you a--" He waves a hand vaguely to the cards and Seto's everything. "--Do you play a lot of games? Is that why you're so adamant on finding someone to play with?"

[daughterofclay]

She sizes him up -- one of the math guys, judging by the uniform, which means something like poker probably won't be to her advantage. Of course, that presupposes she isn't cheating, which she might be.

She shrugs, and starts listing them: "Gin Rummy, Slapjack, Idiot, Crazy Eights. If you have another preference, I might know it."

"But I usually play for cash." Sorry, Kaiba, a girl's gotta pay for her impressive collection of daggers somehow.

[shiningkindness]

A bit startled by the voice, Fluttershy turns towards him.

"D-Duel...? What do you mean...?"